


Lurking Below

by Elillierose



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Blood, Bromance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Illness, Infection, Parasite - Freeform, Sci-Fi, Sickfic, Supernatural - Freeform, Vomiting, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-22
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-07-11 13:09:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 24,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19928590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elillierose/pseuds/Elillierose
Summary: Due to recent events and the stress they caused, Steve takes it upon himself to invite the whole group to a sort of mini vacation to his parents' lake house. But, with their luck, the getaway is anything but relaxing. Sustaining a minor bite, Steve blows the whole thing off until it quickly becomes apparent there's nothing normal about the injury.





	1. Something's in the Water

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, so first ST fic here~ Just recently binged season three and I had a burning need. For the record, I had this idea before watching the last few episodes, then watched them and was like holy shit, this is actually canon to be sorta possible. So I guess now it's like a what if sorta of thing with the whole situation happening to someone else (Steve) instead.
> 
> Also please excuse if people are off, there's a LOT of people to keep up with. lmao
> 
> Beta read by: [DragonRiderSayomi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRiderSayomi/pseuds/DragonRiderSayomi)
> 
> My [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) for questions or concerns.
> 
> Please feel free to give any feedback. Also sorry for the short length of this first chapter, but it's to set things up for the rest. XD

Impatiently, Steve leaned closer to the open passenger side window, hand pressing against the horn, long and drawn out. “Come on! Get a move on!” he called out, pressing the horn again, repeatedly. 

Dustin paused for a fraction of a moment to let out a huff as he continued to drag a duffel bag (filled with God knows what) behind him. “Cool your jets! I’m going as fast as I can!” he yelled back, giving his luggage another hard tug.

The teen rolled his eyes and slid out the driver’s side, rounding the vehicle. “The hell you got in there, a whole meth lab?” he asked, single eyebrow raised as he leaned against the passenger side. He glanced down at his watch and tapped his foot with a heavy, audible sigh.

“We’d go faster if you’d help, you know?”

“We’d be gone already if you didn’t take so long to begin with,” Steve shot back. Despite his words, he was already strolling towards the kid, one hand reaching to grab the handles. One heft and a gasp of surprise at the weight, he hauled it over his shoulder. “Seriously, what’s in this thing? You know it’s only going to be a week, you don’t need your entire room.” He let out a soft grunt as he dropped it in the trunk.

“Hey!” Dustin exclaimed, “Careful with that, it has fragile contents.” He took a moment to peek inside, checking on his belongings. Nothing broken. “It’s just a few essentials,” he shrugged. He looked up at Steve, furrowing his brows at the judging stare from the older. “You never know, he added with a mutter.

Steve nodded once and shut the trunk. “Uh huh, right.”

As soon as they were both in, Steve heaved another breath. “I probably should have gotten you last,” he mumbled to himself before pulling out of the driveway. Next stop was Lucas’, where he picked up both him and Max. At least that was another stop he wouldn’t have to make. And last stop was the Byers’, and where he’d meet the others. Steve waited in his car as Will brought his luggage out, and it was a miracle everyone could fit everything in the trunk with Dustin’s haul. He watched out the front as Nancy and Jonathan soon came out as well, and he had to hold back a sigh at the sight of them so close to one another.

“Get over it already, Harrington,” he whispered to himself. Still, probably out of habit, he brushed his hair to the side and leaned back. The two of them, as well as Mike and El - which Steve was still surprised Hopper was even allowing this - piled into Jonathan’s car. Maybe it wasn’t that much of a surprise, she probably needed a bit of a break more than any of them.

It took maybe a total of twenty minutes for everyone to be buckled in, and that all were, Steve made certain. And, finally, they could be on their way.

“So, you actually own a lake house?” Max asked from the back, sounding almost offensively incredulous.

The teen glanced in the mirror. “Technically, no. It belongs to my parents, but I have permission to be there. Not like they’re using it.” The last part was mumbled. Dustin cut his eyes over in time to see something...different cross over the other’s gaze. But, he didn’t comment on the matter. “But, that’s not the point, point is, we have the place for a week. A week of none of that demodog nonsense or mind flyers-”

“Flayer,” Dustin quickly interjected.

“Whatever, same thing, dipshit.”

He was sure he heard something muttered quietly, but Steve continued, “Got it? None of that, I don’t even want to  _ hear _ a single word spoken about any of that crap.” He swept his hand in a circular motion. 

“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Max replied with a light huff, falling back against her seat.

“Good.”

Most of the drive was in silence. It was a couple hours of a drive, mostly through forested areas. What little conversation they had was spoken between the songs blasting through the radio. It wasn’t until the roads began to slim that they slowed down. The kids were leaning closer to the windows now, peering out as the scenery slowly changed and glimpses of water could be seen. Then, shortly after, a way less than shabby cabin... ok, a rather nice one that probably didn’t qualify as a cabin.

“Well, here we are,” Steve announced, parking and taking a quick look at the others. “What’re you waiting for? Get your stuff,” he ordered, jabbing a thumb towards the trunk. He slowly got out and gazed at the place. God, he hadn’t been here in years. A deep breath, and he turned back, grabbing his own bag.

The others were pulled up behind him, all of them doing the same. The moment the door was unlocked, it was like the floodgates opened as kids rushed in, luggage in hand.

“Hey!” he called after them, halting the lot of them. “Pick a room, but girls and boys are separate, you got that?” he asked, pointed to each of them as they nodded one by one. He nodded and turned to both Jonathan and Nancy now. “That goes for you two as well,” he clarified. 

“Yes, mom,” Nancy said sarcastically, but lightheartedly. Steve dropped his bag on the couch. Before anything else, he had to check and make sure everything was in working order. He was fairly certain it should be, but didn’t hurt to be sure. Lights: check. Water: check. And locks: check. He pursed his lips and nodded as the last lock was confirmed to function. The place was already clean; at least it was looked after in the family’s absence. With that done, he carried his belongings upstairs along with everyone else and dropped it in the room with the other guys. 

It was easy to forget how much they outnumbered the girls until they were all crammed into a room like they were. It was already clear nights were going to get a little uncomfortable. There was only one bed, which had apparently already been decided that Will and Jonathan would share. Which was fine, they were likely the only two willing to share it in this room. And no one was really about to deny Will the luxury anyway. 

Steve flicked his attention to the clock on the wall. Assuming it was right, they managed to make it here just a little past noon. Right, that left plenty of time. Loudly, he clapped his hands together, startling more than a couple of them.

“So, what do you all say to testing the waters?”

“We’re not even unpacked,” Lucas said, matter-of-factly.

Steve just shifted his weight to one leg and looked down at the kid. “Yeah, I can see that. You can do that tonight. Not like you’re moving in here.” He clapped his hands again, “Chop chop, hope you all brought your trunks.”

“I-It’s a lake,” Dustin stuttered with squinted eyes. “Why wouldn-”

Steve held up a silencing hand. “Get ready,” he said. And, without breaking eye contact, he snatched his own pair out of his bag and spun on his heel.

“Is he usually in that kind of mood?” Will asked, a tad uncertain.

“Not usually,” Jonathan replied flatly. “But, I’ll take this over some of the other ways he’s acted,” he said with a slight smile. “Well, you guys heard him, doesn’t sound like there’s room for negotiations.”

Not even thirty minutes after arrival, and the group was trekking the trail, towels slung over their arms.The moment the trees cleared around them, it’s like a whole new world: crystal waters, sun shining through and a gentle breeze that ruffled their hair. Steve looked back at them all and gave a beaming smile. “Eh?” he says, holding out a hand. “Pretty nice, right? Clean, mostly clear water.” His attention rests momentarily on El, noticing she’s the only one not in a swimsuit of some kind, but he leaves it as is. “Have at it.”

He doesn’t need to tell them twice. Will, Lucas, Dustin and Max are the first ones in. Mike and El, however stay on the shore, just going far enough for the water to reach their ankles. 

“It’s not gonna bite,” Steve half snorts. “If you get your clothes wet, it’s fine, we’ll just dry them.”

El nods a confirmation, and together, slowly, the two of them move in a little deeper.

Once they were out of earshot, Nancy moved to stand closer to the other teen. “Thanks,” she says, watching as the kids play, splashing one another mostly. “For, you know, taking everyone out here. They’ve all been through a lot, I’m sure this is just what they need, you know. A chance to be kids again for a little bit.”

Steve pressed his lips together and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. “Not just them,” he reminds, pretty sure we all could use this.” He gives a wink before slipping away, running and jumping in with the rest with little hesitation.

That’s all it takes before they’re all in the water, losing track of time. About an hour or so in, and most of them are moving closer to the shore, some leaving to take a break on their towels for a bit. Of course, it never took long for them to gravitate back towards the water. Eventually, Steve perked slightly, swimming back to shore without so much as a word.

“Hey, where ya going?” Dustin called after him.

“I wanna check something,” the teen said back. Wanna see if it’s still here.” When he was back on his feet, he circled around, eyes scanning the branches, searching.

Dustin’s mouth twitched. “I think all that head trauma is finally catching up dude, think you fina-”

“Aha!” Steve interjects triumphantly. He jumped a couple times, needing a third for his fingers to scrape a rope, successfully pulling it from its perch. “Thought it survived.” He looked back up as he gave a couple, harsh experimental tugs. “Still holding strong!”

“Oh no...what is he doing?” Max asked as the older firmly grabbed higher on the rope. “He’s actually going to do it…” she breathed out as he took a few, large steps back. “I’m not dragging him out when he knocks himself out.”

“Hey, I can hear you, shithead!”

He took a deep breath and bounced on his toes. “You still got this,” he said to himself with a small shake of his head. Holding his breath, he finally went for it, gripping the rope and charging forward. Eyes squeezed shut, he went with the momentum and pulled his feet up. Then he pried one eye open long enough to make sure he was far enough over the water and confidently released his hold. Even after he hit the water and returned to the surface, he was still unsure if it actually turned out fine. But, once both eyes were open, he thrust his arms up in a quick cheer.

“Woo! Who’s next?” he asks,waving for someone - anyone to come over.

Sure enough, after seeing that Steve was indeed well and alive, a few of the kids were instantly up to give it a go. All aside from El, Will and Mike, that is. And no surprise, Max was the first to try. For her, as well as the others, Steve stayed in the water, right below just in case anything were to go wrong. Which, thankfully, nothing catastrophic occurred. Maybe a couple rope burns here and there, but nothing horrific. 

Everyone had about four to five turns with the rope, plenty of time for the day to begin retreating. 

“We should start heading back soon,” Nancy announced, nodding to the sky as it darkened a degree of a shade. The other two were quick to agree.

“Yeah, can’t see shit when it’s dark out here.” Steve practically herded the children towards the shore, waiting until they were all out until he grabbed the rope and started to pull himself out. One foot planted on the rocks and a pained gasp escaped his lips.

“Shit!” he hissed, yanking himself the rest of the way out.

“Everything alright?” Jonathan asked, brows knit slightly.

Steve simply nodded, bending slightly to inspect his leg. Looked like he might have just scraped it on his way up. It wasn’t bleeding much. Eyebrow raised, the teen peered back into the water, not really seeing anything he could have hit it on. But, who knows, probably something jutting out a bit below the surface.

“Yeah, all good,” he said, quickly jogging to take his place back at the front. 

The walk back was quiet aside from the weary dragging of feet. The occasional joke made between the kids was also made here and there. By the time they got back, Steve was actually glad he dragged them there for so long. It was a good way to wear a bunch of brats out. Most of them plopped on the couch and floor, ready to pass out for the night.

“Up,” he demanded, nudging each of them with his foot. “Get dried off first before soaking all the furniture, will ya?”

“Says the one tracking blood on the floor,” Mike retorts, instantly pausing, realizing what he just said. “Blood?”

Confused, the teen follows his stare and lets out a soft swear. “I’ll be right back.” He made a beeline for the bathroom and swung his foot to the counter, finally getting a better look at the ‘scrape’. Or, what he had assumed was a scrape. After rinsing the blood off and seeing it in better lighting, it was clearly not what he would consider a scrape. But, no way, he refused to think those were teeth marks. Nothing lived in that water that would bite. Only snakes occasionally, but these weren’t fang marks.

A hum of thought escaped as he prodded. It didn’t really hurt, still felt like a scrape pain wise. Shrugging, he washed the rest of the blood away and just dug for the biggest band-aid he could find and slapped it over, making sure it was covered. Last thing he needed was one of the others to see and blow it out of proportion.

With the shit they went through, the last thing they needed was a false reason for panic.


	2. Plenty of Time for Sleep

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by: [DragonRiderSayomi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRiderSayomi/pseuds/DragonRiderSayomi)
> 
> My [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) for questions or concerns.
> 
> And thank you for the positive feedback on the first chapter~ Btw, since I have all the chapters done for this fic, I'm already working on the next, so hope you're ready for more Steve torment~

Steve washed his hands off, rinsing away any trace of blood and did the same with the floor. It was only a few drops, but that didn’t stop him from just being extra sure. Satisfied, he checked his hair once more before finally stepping out, having to stop abruptly with a gasp when he almost ran into Dustin.

“J-Jesus,” the teen blurted, hand braced against the doorframe. “Are you trying to give someone a heart attack?”

The kid’s expression morphed into one of slight confusion. “Just checking, you were in there for a while. Can’t be hogging it in there.” His eyes glanced down, taking note of the now covered wound. “So...you good?” he asked slowly, eyes back up.

“Do I look like I’m about to fall over dead?” Steve shot back.

“Alright, I get it, jeez. No need to be a dick about it.” Dustin stepped to the side as the older boy slipped by him, seemingly in a rush with a wad of tissue in his hand. The kid could only shake his head and let out a huff.

The moment he was back in the main area, Steve dropped to his hands and knees, scrubbing what little droplets he could see, muttering to himself. “I’m dead if there’s any stains down here.” Despite seeing no trace left, he scrubbed at the spots for a few seconds more and leaned in close, staring until he was a hundred percent certain.

He took a deep breath and straightened back up to rub his hands together. Now was when he noticed the many stares he had resting on him. “What?” he asked snarkily, glancing them all over, the older two included.

“N-Nothing,” Nancy stammered. “Just didn’t think you were the overly clean type, is all.”

Steve pressed his lips together, just realizing how he must have looked. “Well, my parents finally trust me to bring a bunch of people out here they don’t know, and I for one am not going to take any chances of screwing up future chances. That includes leaving the place exactly as it was when we arrived: spotless.” He offered them all a tight smile, silently daring them to mess anything up.

“Ok, whatever, we get it,” Max finally spoke up. “What I want to know is, is there anything to eat. I’m starving.” There were a few mutters of agreement from the others.

Right, of course, he almost forgot about that. “Yeah,” Steve replied, waving a hand. “Just go get dried off and changed, then we’ll worry about that. There should be stuff in the kitchen, if they kept it stocked.” He kind of forgot to check on that part. As the kids departed, he drifted to the cabinets and let out a sigh of relief to see them fairly stocked. If they weren’t, that would have been an unfortunately long drive just for some groceries. He wiped a hand down his face, thinking about what the hell he was supposed to make. His eyes glanced cluelessly down the shelves, his brows knitting tighter as he did so.

The teen jolted slightly at the touch on his shoulder. “I don’t mind putting something together,” Nancy offered. “Got pretty good at improvising from watching Mike and his friends so much over the years,” she shrugged with a warm smile.

“Knock yourself out.”

He just realized the other two were already changed, while, he, on the other hand, was in his swim attire. Huffing out a breath, he spun around and headed right upstairs, straight to the room with the other guys. Of course, his sudden entrance wasn’t the most welcomed, but they settled down after a couple seconds.

It took no time for any of them to get changed, most doing so as quickly as possible, anything to get out of drenched clothes. Everyone aside from Steve and Dustin were already back downstairs; they, however, sat on the edge of the only bed as the older ran a towel over his hair. Tossing it to the floor, Steve fell back with a sigh and closed his eyes. It’s like getting out of sodden clothes and into some dry ones wore him out.

Damn, he was tired. He yawned deeply and was sure he sank another foot in the bed. He could hear the kid shuffling next to him, but couldn’t be bothered to crack an eye open to see just what exactly the other was doing.  The sound of a door opening and closing was more then enough of an answer for him to begin relaxing more into the sheets . 

He didn’t know how long he laid there, but it must have been long enough for him to doze off because the next thing he knew, his name was being called from about two feet away.

“Hmm?” he hummed, half-asleep as he draped an arm over his eyes.

“Are you gonna come eat or not?” Dustin asked, an edge of impatience laced his tone. “If not, I’m calling your share.”

Steve cracked an eye open wide enough to shoot the kid a sideways glare. Flopping a hand, waving him off, he muttered, “I’m comin’, I’m comin’.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, and lightly shook his head in an attempt to shake the rest of the dreariness away. 

“Nap time’s over,” Dustin continued, clapping his hands loudly together.

“Hey, after waking up with the sun and driving all over to pick you guys up, on top of the driving hours to get here, I think a nap was well deserved.”

He yawned once more and slowly sat up, closing his eyes again as he did so. The light was a little brighter than he had expected. Taking a moment, Steve forced them back open and took a look at the clock. It was only eight, or close to it. How long was he asleep? Couldn’t have been more than a couple hours. His body argued that it was less than that though, and begged him to just drop back down and continue where he left off. But, he chased that desire away. There’d be plenty of time for sleeping, he supposed. 

With a groan, he pushed himself up to his feet. Too fast, perhaps. A very subtle dizziness overcame him, but he managed to stay standing just fine; merely needed a moment for it to pass.

“Any day now,” Dustin said with a tap of his foot. Then, seeing the slight blankness in Steve’s eyes, added, quieter, “You alright?”

A couple seconds later, and Steve looked to the younger. He knew the kid said something, he wasn’t sure exactly what, but he had a good idea. “Yeah,” he replied with a slow nod, an expression of bewilderment. He nodded again for good measure, hoping that was the right gesture.

Dustin hesitated, but muttered an ‘ok’ nonetheless. He stepped back and waved the teen out, who slowly strolled out and down the stairs. The entire time, a set of blue eyes watched him carefully. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was just...off. He narrowed his eyes and followed after the other, making sure his curiosity wasn’t too obvious.

Steve slumped in one of the chairs, dropping his gaze to the plate of spaghetti before him. “Oh,” he uttered, looking from the meal to Nancy. “Looks nice.” He gave her a soft smile and straightened up. As he stared down at his plate, he fiddled with his fork and flicked his eyes around, seeing that everyone else had already started long before he got here and some were finally digging in. 

He brought his attention back down to his own, and it was like his appetite was just gone. It wasn’t like he found it unappealing or anything, just surprisingly not that hungry. Regardless, he took a bite. It was good at least, so that was a plus. He joined in idle conversation here and there, putting in his two cents. There was no investment in any of it; to be honest, he was kind of hoping to get this over with and just go back to sleep. 

It was slow and tedious, and he only ate half of it, but most of the others were finally getting up, cleaning their spots and migrating. Soon enough, he got up as well, declaring he had enough.

Just as he was about to take the first step,

“Steve, where ya goin’?”

He paused and glanced over at the sound of Nancy’s voice. He took a look around, as if unsure she was asking really that and jabbed a thumb upstairs. “Uh, bed?” he answered shortly.

“It’s only nine thirty.”

“Well, some of us got up at five,” he retorted quickly. “I’m just really tired, alright?” he said in a lighter tone. “Just gonna go to sleep early tonight, and tomorrow I won’t feel as dead,” he assured with a sideways smile. He dipped his head in a silent goodnight, getting a few muttered ‘nights’ as he ascended the stairs. When he was halfway up, there was the familiar voice of Dustin, and Steve instantly squeezed his eyes shut with a whispered swear.

A few steps sounded behind him and, “I think Imma call it a night too. Had to get up early to make sure I had everything...you know?” he said awkwardly. 

As soon as both of them were in their room and the door was shut, Steve spun to face the other. “What are you up to?” he asked, clearly unamused.

Dustin pursed his lips slightly and shrugged. “Nothin’ just sleepy,” he said with a small tilt of his head. “Thought I’d turn in early as well.”

“Mmm hmm,” Steve hummed, mouth pressed. “Sure.” He left it at that, for now. He twisted back around with a heavy breath and started making his way towards the bathroom. But, every step on his right leg was reminding him of the minor wound. He almost forgot about that. Also, now that he was thinking about it, it might be a good idea to actually clean it. There was no telling what was microbes are lurking around out there.

He shut the door, perhaps a little harder than intended, and without hesitation, ripped the bandage away. 

Steve froze for a fraction of a second as he stared down at the scrape. ‘Scrape’ because it wasn’t a bite. Breath held, he reached down and pressed lightly around one of the punct- cuts, and winced slightly. It was already slightly red around them, and a subtle warmth radiated from it. He wasn’t well educated in the world of infections, but he was smart enough to know they weren’t supposed to set in that fast. Were they? He honestly didn’t know, but he didn’t think they were.

‘Get it cleaned and wrap it back up,’ he told himself. “Ok,” he spoke aloud now, “peroxide, where are you?” He dug through the cabinet until his hand brushed over the bottle. With a click of his tongue, he plucked it from its shelf and quick unscrewed the cap. 

With a generous amount applied to a cloth, he pressed it over the wounds. He couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped, or the hushed whimper as he bit down on his bottom lip. A noise which must have been louder than he thought since there was knocking on the door.

“Steve?”

“I-I’m fine,” he replied a bit shakily. He held his breath and peeled the cloth away, trying to ignore the fresh blood staining it. The teen lowered his head, waiting for the stinging to subside, which was taking its sweet ass time. “Come on,” he muttered under his breath. Again, likely louder than he meant to because now the door was opening and he couldn’t react in time before Dustin was standing right behind him, letting out a hiss of his own.

“The hell is that?” the kid asked, a few octaves higher than his normal tone.

Steve swiftly shook his head. “Scraped it on the way out of the lake,” he blurted out. “I said it’s fine, so just get out of here, will ya?” He cast his attention over his shoulder to find the younger staring intently at his leg.

“That looks infected.” Dustin ignored him.

“No shit, why do you think I’m cleaning it?”

Steve pressed the cloth back against his leg with a small grunt. He was sure it wouldn’t make a difference, but he poured more of the substance over the open wounds. 

Then Dustin spoke up again. “Steve, buddy, I don’t think that’s a scrape.” He swallowed thickly and stared unblinking at the very clear bite marks in the teens flesh. “Pretty sure something bi-”

“I know!” Steve snapped, knowing where this was going. “I know, alright?” he repeated sofer after realizing his irritation. “Just, don’t mention it to the others if you can help it.”

“But, I think they need to kno-”

“No, they don’t,” Steve interrupted again, turning his upper body to look the boy in the eyes. “I told you, it’s fine. Them knowing isn’t going to change anything, and the last thing we need is them panicking for no reason. Everyone is on edge. This is a chance to forget everything, so that’s what we’re going to do, got it?”

Slowly, hesitantly, Dustin nodded. “Yeah, got it. But I don’t like it.”

Steve shrugged one shoulder. “Don’t have to like it, just have to shut up about it.” With a heavy exhale, he pulled the cloth away once more and threw it in the sink. He’d have to wash that first chance he got. “Help me out, look in the cabinets down there for some bandages or something.” 

“Yeah,” Dustin was on it in a second, digging and shoving things aside until some rolled up gauze came into sight. “Want me to...uh….” he nodded to Steve’s leg.

The teen shook his head and held out his hand. “Nah, I can do it. It’s not like I’m bleeding out, I’m still very much capable.” He made quick work, binding the appendage up firmly and giving the side of it a satisfactory pat when finished. “There we go, good as new,” he said, tossing the rest of the roll back, which Dustin barely caught.

He’d be lying if he said it didn’t really start to hurt now, but like hell he was admitting that. Instead, Steve easily got back to his feet and snatched the rag to start washing it out. At least the blood was fresh, so it didn’t take too much effort to get most of it out. He tossed the damp cloth in the hamper, making sure to shove some other clothes over to cover it completely. 

“Ok, time for bed, and remember,” the teen hovered over the other, finger pointer right at his nose. “You talk, you’re dead.”

“Jeez, I get it,” Dustin muttered, slapping the hand away. “But…” the older groaned, but he kept going, “there’s still the fact that something  _ bit _ you, meaning there’s something in there that  _ bites. _ ” His hands were raised as he spoke. “So, how do you plan on keeping everyone out of the water?”

Steve stopped bed step and leaned his head back. “Shiiiit.”

He didn’t think about that small detail. But he was right. No way could the others go in there. At least not until he knew what it was and got it out of there. 

“No one is going back in tonight, just let me sleep on that,” he mumbled, veering towards one of the pallets made up on the floor. With less grace than a sack of rocks, he dropped himself down with a small sigh of content. It wasn’t very comfortable, but he was exhausted, and right now he’d be willing to sleep on the ground. 

He heard Dustin getting situated in the spot closest to him. Without even opening his eyes, he knew the kid was staring at him, likely dying to say something. Cracking his eye open confirmed his suspicion as his peek caught the younger quickly closing his mouth.

“Just say it,” Steve breathed out.

“Nothing.”

He really had nothing to say, not right now, anyway. However, even though he didn’t get a good look it at, there was no way Steve’s leg should have been looking the way it did. Not unless those were some super-powered bacteria in that water. So, either he was lying about when it happened, or… he didn’t want to think of the implications. As much as he hated it, Dustin hoped he was just lying. 

“Does it hurt?” he asked after some time.

“Hmm?” he already sounded half asleep.

“Does it hurt, your leg?” Dustin asked again, more clearly. He needed to know, wanted to try to keep tabs on things as well as he could. With what they’ve seen and gone through, there was just no telling anymore. Better safe than sorry.

Steve hummed again. “Not really. Now go to sleep.”

“You feel fine?”

“Yup. Sleep. Now.”

Dustin nodded once and let a few more seconds pass by. “And you’re absolutely su-”

“Dustin,” the teen cut off, eyes now wide open. “Please, just go to sleep, you can interrogate me tomorrow all you want.” Steve turned the other way, yanking his blanket tightly around himself as he did so. With his face away from the other, he allowed his expression to tighten slightly. Ok, so maybe his leg did burn a little, but he was trying to convince himself that it was due to the peroxide or the binding. 

To be honest, he was far too exhausted to think any more about it. It didn’t matter which it was. Point was, there wasn’t much to be done about it aside from suck it up and ignore it. First thing in the morning - hopefully he’d be awake before everyone else - he was marching right back to that lake and finding what the hell that thing was. 

Right before he drifted off again, Steve was vaguely away of that slight burning sensation almost throbbing in time with his heart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated. :D


	3. Definitely Not Normal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by: [DragonRiderSayomi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRiderSayomi/pseuds/DragonRiderSayomi)
> 
> My [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) for questions or concerns.
> 
> Again, so beyond thrilled that people are enjoying this so far. I was so worried about it, but am unbelievably relieved. So thank you SO much for all the positive feedback so far. ;w; Can't wait to get the rest out now~

It was so damn hot; too hot. Steve felt a groan slip from his throat as he shifted uncomfortably. Slowly, he slipped an eye open - nothing but darkness greeted him. What time even was it? His eye traced the room, finding no sign of light. Ok, so pretty late or early then. The teen threw an arm over his eyes and breathed deeply. Then he swallowed thickly - dryly. God, his mouth was dry. Carefully, he sat half way up, heel of one hand rubbing his eyes.

He could have sworn he didn’t even get an hour of sleep. All around him were the soft sounds of steady breathing and a few light snores.Sitting up the rest of the way, he dragged his legs slightly, and that was enough to remind him of his small injury. Steve stifled a light hiss and grabbed just above the wound.

Pressing his lips together tightly, he moved again, slower this time. Wasn’t as bad as the first, but his leg was still disagreeing with the motion. He pushed the discomfort aside and pulled himself to his feet with only a slight stagger.

Instantly, he started to shift all of his weight to his good leg, transferring it over slowly to the other until he was sure he wouldn’t stumble. With one step at a time, he carefully maneuvered himself around the kids sprawled all over the floor. Luckily, he managed to make it out the door without waking anyone up or running anyone over. Once out, he pressed his back against the now closed door and blew out a heavy breath. 

Steve made his way down the stairs, and rounded the corner right into the kitchen, flicking the light on his way by. First thing he did was fix a glass of water, downing it in almost one gulp. Even after that, his mouth was still cotton-ridden. He leaned heavily on the counter, head slightly bowed before caving and filling the glass up again. This time, he forced himself to drink slower, taking sips with hope that would help. 

It was a little more tolerable, but everything still felt incredibly dry. With a sigh, he set the half empty glass to the side and leaned his head back. His leg was still burning, more than last night, much to his annoyance and slight concern. It didn’t make sense, the damn bite wasn’t even that bad. He glanced down at the mere thought of it and pulled the leg of his sweat pants up. 

“Son of a…” he mouthed at the small red dots decorating the gauze. He was no doctor, hell, had very little knowledge in the medical field in general, but that definitely shouldn’t be happening. 

He stood there for a little while longer, really not looking forward to what he was going to have to do. Shaking his head, Steve hobbled towards the downstairs bathroom, aware of the fact he was now favoring his right side. Once in, he made sure to lock the door this time and propped his foot on the toilet. Teeth biting down, he began to peel the bandages away - painstakingly slowly.

Each layer removed revealed a larger dot of read. And, once he was down to the last layer, he winced at the way it stuck marginally. He couldn’t hold back a quiet whine as he finally yanked it away in one go, wanting to hurry up and get it over with. 

“Holy…” he muttered, eyes wide, unblinking. This definitely wasn’t normal. If it didn’t look infected before, it did now without a doubt. And, he wasn’t certain, but the puncture wounds themselves appeared larger than he remembered. He didn’t notice how his hands were shaking until he reached down to touch the skin around the wound. Just the slightest prod was enough to send a painful jolt through the limb. That's all it took for him to feel the heat radiating from the site.

Ok, it wasn’t that bad, he just didn’t clean it good enough the first time. Right, he just had to clean it again. Though, that was a challenge when his hands were still trembling as much as they were. 

‘First calm down, then clean it,’ he told himself internally. Steve closed his eyes, took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. Thankfully, his heart was slowing down, no longer pounding in his chest.

Good, this was as close to calm as he was going to get. Without moving, he searched the medicine cabinet, only finding alcohol. He was already grimacing at the idea of that, but nothing else was presenting itself. It would have to do. He took his sweet time unscrewing the cap and still hesitated once it was off. 

“You got this,” he whispered. Squeezing his eyes shut un preparation, he just poured. 

His reaction was instantaneous. The bottle slipped from his hand - spilling alcohol all over the floor - as a fresh bout of burning erupted. 

“Fuck!”

He tried, but he couldn’t hold back his outburst. Various colors bled into his vision, threatening to overtake his sight completely as they started to dim into blackness. Nausea crept up the back of his throat, but he quickly swallowed that back down. In the back of his mind, he was praying his cry didn't wake anyone up; he had no idea just how loud it was.

His lungs ached, and he realized he was still holding a breath. Shakily, he let it back out, convincing himself that he didn’t actually sob when he exhaled. He didn’t. Still dangerously lightheaded, he dragged his leg off its purchase and gradually lowered himself to the floor and layback. He just needed a moment or two for the dizziness to pass. He folded both arms over his eyes and counted the seconds. 

By the time he got to ten, the worst of it had finally ebbed away. Clarity began to wash back over him and a wet sensation soaking into his other pant leg stole his attention. He sighed - the alcohol. 

He should probably clean that up.

In another minute though, because the floor is rather nice. It’s cool to the touch and oddly comfortable. And cleaning takes energy he’s lacking at the moment. If he were here alone, he’d go to sleep right there. In fact, it was damn near tempting. He struggled to keep his eyes from closing all the way.

Before he could completely drift off, he propped himself up on his elbows and dragged himself to the door, where he propped himself up, trying to steady his breathing. He took one more deep inhale, and - 

His choked it back out, startled by knocks on the door. 

He let a gasp slip out before sluggishly calling out, “Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

Steve dropped his head forward. Nancy; out of everyone here… “You need something?” he asked after clearing his throat. 

There was a moment of pause. “N-No, but I was just checking, I heard, uh, I heard you down here and wanted to make sure everything was alright?”

“I’m fine,” he said a little snappily. “Go back to sleep.” He grunted as he placed his hands on the door and hefted himself up, stifling a few hisses and groans as he did so. Leaning against the doorframe like he depended on it, he unlocked the door and opened it just a crack, just enough to see a sliver of her face. “See, all good.”

And he was, despite the fact he had to focus on keeping his breathing normal and put most of his weight on one leg. What he hoped to be convincing enough only caused her to narrow her gaze.

“Why is there a smudge of blood on your face?”

His mouth parted a degree and his gaze glanced to his hand, stained with crimson. “Uh, I was shaving and nicked myself,” he said with a forced smile.

“At two in the morning?”

His brows twitched in his confusion. So that’s what time it was. “Um, yeah,” he replied flatly. “Woke up, couldn’t get back to sleep,” he shrugged. “Thought I’d take the chance while I could before, you know, everyone else woke up. Get a shower, all that jazz,” he rambled, barely looking Nancy in the eyes. Slowly, he began to close the door back, tossing out another ‘Go back to sleep,’ as it clicked shut and he turned the lock once more.

“Steve, come on,” she tapped on the door again, but this time he completely ignored her pleas. 

“I’ll… be out in a moment...or three,” he said, gazing around the room. There was blood staining a few places and alcohol all over the floor. And there was still the task of wrapping his leg back up. 

Another pause, then, “Alright, fine. Always were stubborn. Just...let me know if you need me for anything, ok?”

Steve took a shuddering breath and muttered, “Yeah.”

He leaned against the door, listening as her footsteps faded and disappeared back upstairs. The teen huffed a breath out of his nose and shoved himself away from his support. He got to work rinsing his leg off, removing as much dried blood as he could. It was a tedious process, needing to pause every few seconds when the stinging got too intense. It wasn’t perfect, but he deemed it passable and dug out some more gauze. Thankfully they were pretty stocked on first aid supplies. Just like before, the wound was bound tightly.

Next was the blood and alcohol spillage. Both of which came up relatively easily, but the whole bathroom reeked of chemicals. The whole ordeal left him more exhausted than before he went to sleep. 

Practically dragging himself, Steve unlocked and shoved the door open, forgetting to turn any of the lights off as he moved. He entertained the idea of going back upstairs, but one look up sent a pang through his leg. Opting out of that option, he instead subtly limped towards the living area, collapsing on the couch. 

It was the most heavenly thing he’s ever lied on. He buried his face in the pillow, turning until his face was pressed towards the back. Steve was convinced he could sleep here for the rest of his life and be perfectly content with that. Less than a second, and the lull of sleep was tugging him down. 

* * *

“-eve?”

He groaned and turned his head farther, trying to bury himself deeper into the cushions. As he moved, something brushed over his shoulder - a blanket, he assumed.

“Steve, wake up.”

“No,” he sleepily slurred, yanking the cover up and over his head with a huff. “Jus’ five more minutes,” he added before the voice finally registered. The second it did, he jolted upright, blanket falling from his upper half. “What?”

There were a few sets of eyes on him, but he focused on the pair to his right, crouching next to him. Jonothan. The rest were coming from the kitchen table where the kids were eating bowls of cereal. “What time is it?”

“A little past nine,” The other teen replied, straightening up. Steve just groaned and dropped back down. Why the hell was he still so tired? “Thought I’d wake you up for breakfast,” he added a bit awkwardly.

“Not really hungry,” Steve mumbled against the pillow.

There were a few hushed words exchanged between the others, words he couldn’t be bothered to make out. Before he knew what was going on, a hand pressed against his face, which he promptly pulled away from.

“The hell are you doing?” he asked, eyes snapping open.

Jonathan said nothing for a moment, but stared down at him, a look in his eyes Steve really did not appreciate. 

“Are you feeling alright?” he asked after a moment.

Steve looked the Jonathan in the eyes and then to the others; all eyes were on him now. “I feel fine,” he bit out. It was a losing battle, he was painfully aware of this. He always was a bad liar.

Jonathan’s face fell. “Wanna try telling the truth now?”

Instead of saying anything, Steve just sat up with an exaggerated shrug. “Just tired,” he said after some time. “Just very...tired.” He licked his lips with a slight cringe. “And dying of thirst.” Just like last night, his mouth was almost unbearably dry. Smacking his lips together, he pushed himself up, breath catching the moment his right foot hit the floor. 

His hand shot out for something to grab. But, there was no need when a firm hand grasped his shoulder and kept him from losing his balance.

“I-I’m good,” Steve stuttered, eyes looking past Jonothan. “Stood up too fast. ”

The other’s brows knit, and his attention flicked down. “Is something wrong with your leg?” he questioned, not missing the way the right had no weight on it. He remembered the blood, but last night he was walking around just fine, and there wasn’t even that much of it. Last night it was fine. “Steve?” He lowered his head to look the other in the face. Everyone was deathly quiet, all seemingly waiting for an answer.

Finally, he cleared his throat and pulled his arm away. “Jeez, what’s with the third degree?” he muttered, dodging all the looks resting on him. “It was just asleep, alright?”

Without meeting any of their gazes, he sauntered to the kitchen, using every bit of his will power to walk with a normal stride. It wasn’t easy, but all he had to do was make it to the sink, pour some water, and make it to the table. And that was it, and then maybe they’d get off his case.

Easier said than done, though. Just getting to the sink was straining and leaving him near breathless. He filled a glass up and drank about half of it right there before filling it up again. He gripped it between his hands tightly as he suppressed a shudder from all the gazes boring into his back.

Steady, that’s all there was to it, steady steps. It was probably slower than his normal pace. But, to be fair, he  _ did _ just wake up and wasn’t completely in the world of the living quite yet. Probably a little more straightened than needed, he took his seat and offered the others a soft ‘Good morning,’ before sipping his water, restraining himself from chugging it like last night.

He received a few wary glances, but slowly, everyone started eating their breakfast again and Steve finally allowed his shoulders to relax. The only kid still watching him was Dustin.

Said kid raised an eyebrow, which Steve just replied by cocking his head to the side. Eventually, they were all finished. As the others were getting up, Dustin clapped a hand on Steve’s shoulder, and asked rather loudly. “Hey, I need you to help me with something...upstairs...like now.”

“With wha-?”

“I’ll show you when we get up there,” Dustin finished between clenched teeth. 

Steve reeled back an inch. “A-Alright, I’m coming.” 

Hand clasped around the teen’s wrist, Dustin almost hauled him along, stopping when they reached the stairs at which he stepped aside and gestured forward. “After you.” Steve merely nodded, and prepared himself, knowing already how much this was going to suck. As long as he used his left leg to pull himself up each step, it was fine for the most part. A bit strange, but it sufficed and it made the limp appear less obvious, which was all he cared about.

As they reached the top, Dustin was tugging on his arm again, pulling him back into the bathroom, nearly slamming it behind him.

“I think you need to tell them,” he said not a second after the ‘click’.

Steve held both hands up, “Hold up, no, that’s not what I need to do.”

Dustin shook his head and threw his hands up. “Dude, it’s obvious you’re hiding something. You’re a shit liar. Everyone can see right through you.”

“No, they can’t,” Steve countered, sounding awfully confident in himself for someone who took about a minute and a half to get some water and sit down.

Dustin shifted his weight and folded his arms. “That was pathetic down there. And with all due respect, Steve, you look like shit.” He ignored the older’s scoff and stepped closer. Like Jonothan, he placed a hand against the teen’s face, who again, flinched away the moment contact was made. “Dude, you have a fever.”

“No, I don’t,” Steve muttered, leaning back to peer at his reflection. Ok, so he didn’t look one hundred percent, but it wasn’t that bad. He was a little pale, and there was a bit of redness, and a bit...of dark circles under his eyes. ...And a slight shine to his skin. But, he could work with that. “I...look fine.”

“Bullshit!” Dustin nodded to his leg, “Lemme see it.”

“Wha- no!” Steve took an instinctive step back. “You already saw it last night.”

“Yeah, and it looked bad, so lemme see it again.” Knowing he wasn’t about to change his mind anytime soon, Dustin took another approach. “Let me see it, or I’m telling them what’s up.” Steve actually appeared as though he were debating that for a moment. It didn’t take much considering though and he took a seat on the edge of the tub and yanked his pants leg up.

He let out a humorless chuckle. “Sure, knock yourself out, kid.”

Before Dustin even moved, his hands were gripping the porcelain until his knuckles whitened. Something the other definitely took note of. He crouched down and started unbinding. Only a layer in and his sighed at the sight of blood seeping through. He got to the last layer and simply peaked with an exclaimed “Jesus Christ!”

Steve said nothing, but swallowed the nausea that was starting to build again. He honestly wasn’t sure he even wanted to take a look for himself, not after how it looked last night. And, if he was going off how it felt now, it was fairing quite a bit worse than that. 

Dustin stared at the wound, eyes wide and brimmed with a mix of fear and worry. “Steve, I hate to tell you, but this is definitely  _ not  _ normal.”


	4. Everything's Too Hot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait, but chapter 4 has arrived~
> 
> Beta read by: [DragonRiderSayomi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRiderSayomi/pseuds/DragonRiderSayomi)
> 
> My [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) for questions or concerns.
> 
> Also, I made a discord server for everything whump!  
> https://discord.gg/

“Steve…”

The teen let out a heavy breath, but kept his eyes in front of him, never allowing them to drop, not even for a sliver of curiosity. “Yeah, I know.”

“What the  _ hell _ is going on?” Dustin crouched down and moved his hand closer, but stopped before actually touching. “This, this is far from normal, this is bad, like  _ bad _ bad. Do you have any idea just how bad this is? Do you?”

Steve raised his head to stare with narrowed eyes. “Yeah...I think I do. I can kinda feel it, ya know?” He watched the kid, seeing how he never even looked away. “D-Does it actually look that bad?” All he got in return was a couple of curt nods.

He almost shuddered at the chill that ran down his spine, dreading what he was about to do. But, he was beginning to see no choice in the matter. Mustering up the courage, he just went for it, darting his eyes right to the wound. 

It took a moment for it to register that this was indeed his leg he was looking at. He felt sick to his stomach and was sure he would actually throw up this time. The first thing he noticed was the size of the wounds, like ulcers eating away at his flesh. They definitely still looked badly infected as well, reddened with a tinge of yellow.

“Shit, shit, shit, what the  _ fuck _ !?” he exclaimed, struggling to catch his breath. He was getting dizzy and the base of his throat burned. “What the hell is this, Dustin, what the  _ hell  _ is going on? What is goin-”

“Steve!” the kid cut him off, grabbing either side of his face. “Calm down.” He looked right into his frantic, unmoving eyes. “Chill, ok? Just don’t panic.”

“‘Don’t panic’!?” Steve repeated, taking short and shallow breaths. “What do you mean don’t panic? What am I supposed to do, I mean look at it! That’s not normal! It’s fucki-” A hand clasped over his mouth, rendering his fearful ramblings into muffled whines.

Dustin shushed him, glancing to the door. “Quiet down, will you? They’ll hear.” He waited until the whimpers died down and Steve slowly nodded. “We-We’ll figure this out. But freaking out isn’t going to do anything.” Slowly, he removed his hand and the teen took a few deep breaths this time. “Alright, good. I think we need to find out what bit you. And...we need to tell the others.” To his surprise, there was no objection.

“Ok, yeah, sure, tell the others,” he nodded quickly.

“First, let’s, uh, get that covered.” 

Again, Steve nodded along, but the color continued to drain from his face. He swallowed a few times and his brow furrowed.

“Ok, bandages,” Dustin muttered to himself. “Uh, where are they agai- Hey!” he blurted when he was rudely shoved to the side. “What are you...oh…” His face fell as the teen dropped to the floor in front of the toilet and instantly started heaving. “Oh, oh that’s gross,” Dustin muttered, turning his back to the other. “Just...get it all out,” the kid encouraged from a distance.

It was a few minutes before Steve finally pulled himself away, but continued to rest his head on the rim, completely disregarding sanitary standards. He kept his eyes closed and tried to will the room to stay still long enough for him to regain his bearings.

“You done?” Dustin asked, a tad softer.

All he got was a weak nod and a low hum. 

“Ok, I’m gonna clean that again.”

At that Steve’s eyes snapped open. “No no no, no need for that,” the words tumbled from his mouth. Quiet but clear. 

“We have to, look at...actually, no, don’t look at it. That’s a bad idea. Just, stay where you are.” He grabbed all the materials and brought them over, depositing them all on the floor. This was going to be a messy process, and he was beyond thankful he wasn’t the squeamish type. He glanced once at Steve’s face and he couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for the guy. He really did look pitiful. He was pale with a light sheen of visible sweat now, like the vomiting completely pushed him over the edge.

It was hard to believe just 24 hours ago he was perfectly fine.

Right, he had to hurry, they had to figure out what was going on if it was progressing this quickly. Dustin grabbed the peroxide and gently poured a small amount. Immediate regret when the teen cried out, kicking with his good leg.

“Fuck! Fuck, stop!” he yelled. His whole body was rigid, head back as far as the wall would allow as he braced himself against it. Fresh beads of sweat ran down his face. And Dustin couldn’t be sure, but he was certain a few of those drops were actually tears. 

“Don’t worry, I’m almost done, but I just need to get the other spots.” His tone was apologetic, but there was nothing else he could do. They both knew this had to be done.

Steve said nothing, but his posture and demeanor remained the same: tense. There was no fighting back, almost like he was just defeated. Dustin almost didn’t want to do it, but his logic outweighed his emotions in that moment. He’d make it quick. Mind made up, he rinsed the rest of the wounds, making sure to go over them as fast as he could. Steve’s reaction was much the same, pleas for him to stop and trying to back away farther. 

“Alright, alright, it’s done, no more of that,” Dustin assured. He gave the teen a few moments to compose himself. 

“‘Urts like’ell,” he slurred, body relaxing only marginally. “It’burns.”

It was a strange sight to behold, someone who usually toughed everything out, in such a moment of weakness. It wasn’t right and didn’t sit well with Dustin. “We just have to cover it up, then we’re done, ok?”

“K.”

He let his head rest back against the toilet, eyes never opening once. On the bright side, compared to the cleaning, he barely reacted to the bandaging part. This time he went light though, knowing full well the wound would have to be checked on frequently. Once done, he pulled himself closer and gave Steve a light tap on the cheek, realizing he hadn’t made a sound in some time.

“Steve?” he called, getting a whine out of him. “Hey, you can’t sleep here, at least not next to your puke.”

He finally stirred with a light moan. “Yeah yeah.” It was so quiet, Dustin barely heard it. His features were scrunched and he had a little color back, but not nearly enough for his liking. 

“Think you can get up?” It was a genuine question. 

Steve opened his eyes and gazed around, likely trying to remember where he was and what just happened. All it took was one small shift for all the memories to flood back in. His nose then wrinkled as the scent of vomit reached him. 

“Ooooh God…” 

“Hey, welcome back, bud. Now, again, do you think you can get up?” Sluggishly, he nodded, but still made no move to actually make an effort to do so. “Well, come on,” he said, taking one of the teens arms and giving a solid tug. “Come on or I’m getting Jonathan to get you up.”

Steve sighed rather heavily at that and rolled his head to finally look at the kid. “Got it.” Finding purchase against the wall, the two of them slowly got the teen to his feet, where he stood for another minute, appearing as though he were about to keel over right there on the spot. 

“Take your time.”

“M’good,” he mumbled, pushing away from the wall. To Dustin’s amazement, he actually managed to stay on his feet. Though, that subtle limp he had earlier was impossible not to notice now. There was no hiding that no matter how stubborn the guy was. He stopped at the door and looked over his shoulder. “Gotta clean all this mess up first.”

“Just leave it, I’ll get it later, figuring out what the hell is going on is more important right now. So go.”

Again, no protests from the older. He just stumbled out the door and towards the stairs. Together, they took one step at a time. Half way down, Dustin noticed how quiet it was. Far too quiet. And now that he was thinking about it, there was no way no one heard Steve scream up there. 

“Guys?” Dustin called.

No reply. 

He left Steve standing at the bottom of the stairs. “Wait right here.”

“Aye aye.”

Dustin quickly scouted the interior...no one in sight. But, as he walked by the kitchen, something caught his eye, it looked like a note on the table. Quickly, he snatched it up and quickly scanned it.

“Oh shit,” he muttered, nearly dropping it as he rushed back to Steve. “Steve? We have a problem. Said person looked to him in question. “The others...they went to the lake.

It was like a switch flipped in the guy. Barely able to get up a moment ago, now he was briskly walking to the door, right leg basically being dragged. A string of swears escaped under his breath as he burst out the door. 

“Maybe you should wait here,” Dustin suggested.

Steve didn’t reply, he didn’t look his way and his steps never so much as faltered in his hurry.

“Or not…” he said to himself, quickly following after. He didn’t think Steve could move as quickly as he was, but here he was getting out of breath himself. There were a couple attempts at a run, but of which were failures as they fell back into briskly walking. “You know what, I’m running ahead.”

Steve just waved him on, he didn’t care, they just needed to keep the rest of them out of the water. As Dustin ran off, Steve finally slowed his pace, thinking maybe rushing like that may not have been the best idea as dizziness washed over him. Thank God for all the trees around to give some momentary support. He leaned heavily against on as his vision swam. He blinked sluggishly, but shoved his discomfort aside. He wasn’t about to just stand there and wait to see what happened. Steve shoved himself from one tree to another, slowly making his way. 

There was no telling how long it was taking him given he had to rest at every new tree. It was draining, and the sun bearing down on him wasn’t helping the situation any. But, he was making progress, and after a few more minutes, he could hear the others in the distance. They were talking rather loudly though. 

Dustin probably had them all panicking and freaking out. He couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of explanation he was giving them. Then again, maybe an exaggeration was for the better. His leg chose that moment to give a painful jolt, all the way up and down. He was starting to wonder if there was a such thing as an exaggeration with how damn bad it was getting. 

He was almost there, just a few more steps and.

“Steve!” His eyes darted directly to the source: Jonathan, who was already heading his way. He let his pride dissipate for now and gratefully took the support.

“Steve, what is he talking about?” Nancy asked, gaze a little too intense for his comfort.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” Mike asked, eyes momentarily flitting to El. “Are...are those things back? The demodogs?” he asked, quieter as if mentioning the name would summon a whole pack of them.

“N-No, it wasn’t a dog,” he replied tightly. He grit his teeth and leaned more heavily into Jonathan. Taking that as a hint, the latter helped him to sit against the nearest tree and crouched next to him. “I don’t know what it was, but it’s not normal, whatever it was, that’s all I know. And I know everyone needs to stay out of there,” he said, flailing a hand towards the water. He took a shuddering breath. It was getting harder to fight the lightheadedness away.

As he spoke, Jonathan was already peeling the square bandage from the wound, eliciting a near cry from Steve when it pulled a bit at the edges.

“Jesus…” he whispered. He glanced back and moved his body accordingly to block the view from the kids. “Nancy, come over here.” He tried to keep the fear from his voice, but there was that slight undertone that gave it all away.

If it weren’t for how damn tired he was now, Steve would have shoved them away, but he just didn’t have the energy to even care. Jonathan shifted to the side and peeled the gauze back just enough for Nancy to get a glimpse. That was all she needed to see, all she  _ wanted _ to see. She thought it was just a scrape, that’s what he said it was. This though, this was definitely not a scrape. Hell, it didn’t even look like a bite to her, the punctures were too large, the edges ragged and screaming infection. Infection that looked days, maybe weeks old. 

“Steve…” she whispered. “Why didn’t you say anything? Is this what you were dealing with last night? I asked you what was wrong!”

He held up a hand to silence her. “Hey...in my defense, it w-wasn’t this bad las’night.” He gasped as the gauze was replaced. “Shit,” he hissed through clenched teeth. 

“What, what’s going on!?” Lucas demanded.

Will stood behind the bunch, staring with unblinking eyes. “It’s him,” he whispered, speaking for the first time since Dustin came screaming at them to get out of the water. “I can feel him.”

At that, everyone aside from Steve whipped their attention towards him. “You mean the flayer?” Mike asked, heart racing. “You think he’s back? Are you alright, like he’s not  _ in  _ you, is he?” he shot question after question, letting out a soft sigh when his friend shook his head.

“No, not like that.” He looked past Mike, back to Steve who let out a strained whimper, grasping at his leg. “I don’t know if it’s the same, but I feel something, it feels similar to him.” Mike could see his chest heave with every breath. They were slow and steady, but it was clear he was struggling to keep calm.

“Don’worry,” Steve slurred, flopping a hand before dropping it right back to his leg where it continued to grasp desperately. “Is’all good.” His eyes were closed again. For the third time, he felt something cool, soft press against his forehead. He didn’t fight it this time. It actually felt rather nice. He found himself instead leaning into it.

There was a small breath, disappointed almost. “He’s burning up.”

‘Who?’ Steve wondered, but couldn’t find his voice to vocally ask. All he knew was it was starting to get really freaking hot and that same sick sensation was coming back at full force. He was going to throw up again, he just knew it. Before he succumbed, he felt someone grab his shoulders as he was turned to the side. Whoever did that, he was thankful for because it was just in time.

In the back of his mind, he made out the gasps and chorus of disgust. Again, he didn’t have the ability to care. Someone was lightly patting his back, Nancy, he assumed. Conversation was starting up again, questions being asked. He could make out none of it aside from one word: hospital.

“No,” he croaked between hacking. He shook his head for good measure, in case they didn’t hear him. “No’ospitals,” he whined out just as he finished.

“Steve, we need to take you somewhere, this is serious.” It was Jonathan speaking. “I guess before anything, we should get back to the house though,” he muttered, helping the other to sit back up. “I take it you aren’t up for walking, are you?” it was more rhetorical than anything.

Steve pried his eyes open, showing a clear lack of lucidity. “Yeah, I can’walk,” he slurred, instantly trying to stand up only to fall back down a moment later. “Might jus’need help gettin’ up,” he added, allowing his arm to be draped around Jonathan’s shoulders. 

“Easy.”

Everyone was quiet, simply watching the scene before them. It was almost painful to watch: Steve trying to take a single step while Jonathan may as well have been carrying him. And every step had Steve leaning against him more and more. At this pace, it was going to take a while.

But, Steve was refusing to be carried, he had to keep a sliver of his dignity. He wasn’t even aware of how far they were getting or how fast they were moving. Every step was torture though, every movement sending stinging and burning through his whole body now. And why was it still so damn hot? It had to have been at least a hundred degrees out with how much it just burned. 

He tried to open his eyes wider, but that just ended with him whimpering and screwing them back shut. It was so bright. His body was heavy. His mouth was parched. And he was still incredibly nauseous. And his leg, it was killing him, but worse than that, it was starting to itch, unbearably so. He turned to face Jonathan, who met his gaze. 

“Itches,” he mumbled, yanking down, sagging against the other a bit more.

“Just a little bit farther to go,” Jonathan assured. He hefted Steve back up, pulling a strained cry from him. “Think you can make it? I can carry you, you know.” He was really hoping the guy would just give in and accept the offer, it would be so much faster. But, he gets no answer. “Steve? Did you hea- Steve!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed and look forward to the next installment. >:D


	5. Something's Moving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things may be slow here and there; started a new job so that's kept me a bit busy. But I assure, I will keep writing in my spare time~
> 
> Beta read by: [DragonRiderSayomi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRiderSayomi/pseuds/DragonRiderSayomi)
> 
> My [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) for questions or concerns.
> 
> Just 3 more chapters left of this one. ;w; But then we get to move on to the Russian Torture one. >:D

Jonathan’s heart nearly dropped when he felt the heat radiating from the other. He muttered a small swear under his breath as he turned towards Nancy. “He’s burning up,” he informed before turning back. As he looked Steve over again, what little color the guy had quickly drained. He didn’t need to ask what was wrong, already knowing after looking after Will so many times.

Without a second thought, Jonathan gripped the teen’s shoulders and turned him to the side just in time for the retching to start. He inwardly cringed as the other’s form convulsed in his grip. As used to that as he was, he still found himself having to avert his gaze. Gently, Nancy stepped forward just enough to lightly pat Steve’s back.

“Is it infected?” she asked, doubt in her tone.

Slowly, almost absently, Jonathan shook his head. As much as he wished for that, since the alternatives implied things far more severe, he knew it wasn’t something as trivial as an infection. 

“Poison, venom?” he suggested, but his eyes flickered to Will. “Or it’s as Will said,” he muttered, something could...maybe something is sti-”

“But El closed the gate, remember?” Mike interjected, sounding near offended. El just nodded in confirmation.

Nancy let out a heavy sigh. “If you don’t think it could be anything like...that, then maybe we should just take him to a hospital?” She was unsure about that option on the off chance it wasn’t something they could help with.

At that, Steve twitched, a noise like he was trying to speak between hacks. Then a raspy, “No…” voiced out and he shook his head, “No’ospitals.” He glared up at them, and that was the most clear he’d looked at them since coming all the way out here. 

Jonathan shook his head with a humorless scoff. “Steve, we need to take you somewhere. This is serious.” His attention traveled down the slightly trembling form, back to his leg where a few specks of red decorated the gauze. “I guess before anything, we should get back to the house though.” Jonathan grunted as he hefted the other back against the tree, seeing as he appeared to be spent. Steve’s head sagged to the side, but he still watched them blearily. “I take it you aren’t up for walking, are you?” Though, he was sure he already knew the answer to that.

But, the reply he got caused him to blink a couple times.

“Yeah, I can’walk,”

Jonathan didn’t get the chance to ask anything else, or oppose when Steve tried to push himself up, Managing to get off the ground a mere inch and was back on the ground with a gasp. 

“Yeah, I can’walk.”

‘Really?’ Jonathan thought, but spared the sarcasm. He pulled one of Steve’s arms over his shoulders, glad the other was cooperating for now. Not that he appeared to have much, if any, choice in the matter. 

“Easy,” he muttered, hauling Steve to his feet. He could already tell this whole walk back was going to be arduous. He wasn’t sure the guy was taking any of his own weight at all. The first step almost ended with both of them on the ground as Jonathan was nearly pulled down. “You sure you don’t need to be carried?”

Steve shook his head. “M’good.” With that pitiful conviction, he lifted himself a little off the other, but not enough to make much of a difference. Still, it was an attempt, which was all that could be hoped for at the moment. 

They were making slow progress, especially since every few feet, Jonathan had to stop to readjust his grip, or shift the other farther over his shoulders. He also couldn’t be sure, but it sure seemed as though their pace was slowing more and more. The temptation to snatch Steve up and just drag him was almost too much. Then, out of nowhere, Steve stops, pulling the both of them to a stop. 

“Itches,” he muttered, trying to bend down, reaching for his leg.

“Just a little bit farther to go,” Jonathan promised - lied - as he tried to keep the both of them upright. Steve was determined to drag them both down, it seemed. He may have had to be a bit rougher than necessary, but he had to keep his hold. A pained, strained sound came from Steve with his effort. A pang of guilt gripped his heart. “Think you can make it? I can carry you, you know.”

A few seconds pass with no reply. He assumed his question wasn’t heard and leans close to ask once more. “Steve? Did you hea-” He’s cut off by a force crashing into him. Steve fully falls against him. “Steve!” Jonathan catches him a bit awkwardly, but they’re both still up. “Steve? Hey, you still there?”

No reply.

Jonathan looks to Nancy, fear written all over her face, and he’s certain his expression matches near perfectly. “W-What happened?” she asked.

“Is he dead?” Max asked, earning a small gasp from El.

“No!” Jonathan nearly snaps, unintentionally. “No,” he repeats calmer. “He’s not  _ dead.  _ He just passed out, alright?” He was at least positive about that as the teen’s heated, uneven breaths brushed across his neck. Taking the risk to free one of his hands, he cupped his face and moved it to get a better look at his features. “Steve?” he called, giving a few taps. His breath stuttered out when he got a groan out of him.

Steve squeezed his eyes shut, as if the sun were far too bright. “Dammit,” he mumbled, bowing his head. Gradually, he shifted, but still depended completely on Jonathan to keep him from crumpling to the ground. 

He didn’t care what he wanted anymore, Jonathan linked one arm behind Steve’s shoulders, and the other slid behind his knees. He would be the first to admit that he wasn’t the strongest of people, but fortunately he was strong enough to carry Steve easily.

“H-Hey!”

“Stop complaining, this is faster.”

Steve didn’t fight back, didn’t try to pull away. Either he saw no use in doing so, or he really was as exhausted as he looked. That didn’t stop him from whining though, what little of that he did. “I told you, I’can walk,” he tried to say as he continued to allow himself to be carried. “Told’ta, m’good.”

“Yeah, well, you sound drunk,” Dustin commented from behind. 

“He’s right,” Lucas agreed.

“Point is, no, you’re not ‘good’,” Jonathan panted. “And as soon as we get back, I’m sure we’re all wanting to hear your side of the story. All of it,” he clarified. “We need to know what’s going on and what kind of threat it is.” He glanced to the side, catching a glimpse of Will. He’d been awfully quiet on the way back so far. He’d also have to talk to him as soon as they got what info they could from Steve. Though, looking at him, he wasn’t sure how much that would be exactly. Guy could barely keep his eyes open.

His lips pressed together and he sped up as much as he could. Everyone fell into silence until they got back and through the door. Then, panic washed through the room as Jonathan deposited Steve on the couch. 

Surprisingly, it was Nancy who started giving out orders. “Mike, go get a bowl of water, and rags, cloths, whatever you can find. Dustin, raid the medicine cabinets, just bring whatever you think might be useful. Jonathan…” she looked cautiously at him. “I think you’re going to have to keep him still and calm. 

He nodded and positioned himself near Steve’s upper body, who was looking a lot more aware now. 

“Wh-Wha-What are you doing?” Steve asked, staring wide-eyed as Nancy began removing the covering from his leg. Meanwhile, Jonathan’s hands hovered near his shoulders. “Nancy, what’re you doing? Nancy, what are yo-hey! D-Don’t tou-”

“Steve, I’m going to need you to shut up, ok?” she snapped as she removed the rest of the gauze. He instantly leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling, taking in a deep breath. “Just...stay quiet and stay still.”

“A-Alright,” he said tightly.

Nancy stared at his leg as she waited on the supplies, heart hammering against her ribs. What was she doing? She had no idea how to deal with this sort of stuff, and looking at the wound now, really looking, she was at a loss. She’d only had to deal with  _ actual  _ scrapes, cuts here and there, but that was mostly it.  _ This _ though, this needed real medical attention. 

She had to think of something though. And quick because Dustin finally got back with peroxide, alcohol and more gauze. 

“Please, try not to get any blood on the cou-”

“Steve,” she said sternly with a glare.

“Right.” He quieted until he saw what she had in her hand, recognized the bottle. “Oh no, no, no no,” he muttered, moving to pull himself up. But, Jonathan was there, hands firmly on his shoulders. “Don’t, not that,” he pleaded, voice shaky. “N-Nancy, please, t-trust me, it won’t make a difference, w-we already tried that. Nancy! Put it do- Fuck!”

It was surprising how much effort Jonathan had to put in just to keep him down. He expected maybe a hiss or a gasp from the teen, not his cries and pleads that were streaming out. And especially not the sobs they declined into. 

“What the hell…” Lucas deadpanned. None of the other kids said anything. Only Mike muttering something when he brought the bowl of water and set it next to his sister, rags resting inside. After that, he said nothing and backed away, mouth slightly open at the sight of the injury. They all figured it was bad, but did not expect whatever it was they were looking at.

Slowly, Steve’s efforts to get away started to die down, and he blinked rapidly, trying to stay conscious. His cries died into whimpers. And since his strength had diminished, Jonathan moved one hand to brush damp strands of hair from his forehead. He was mumbling to himself incoherently, breath hitching. Jonathan was terrible at this. He was good with his brother, of course, but someone like Steve? He had no idea what he was supposed to do, everything just seemed too awkward. So, he settled for shushing him and keeping one hand on the side of his face.

“Are you almost done?” he asked, cutting his attention to Nancy, who was now washing the blood away, revealing what they were dealing with. He was hoping the lack of dried blood would improve the appearance, but it did nothing aside from set in just how bad it was.

She hummed quietly, clearly unaware of what she was just asked. 

His eyes settled on her hands - trembling. He sighed heavily. “Nance, m-maybe we should switch places.” Without much hesitation, she nodded quickly, rinsing her hands in the water. She leaned against the couch, already stroking Steve’s hair back. His eyes fluttered, gaze drifting to look towards her.

“The rest of you, maybe you should go do something else,” Jonathan said, trying to shoo them away. “There’s nothing you can do right now.”

There were quite a few muttered refusals and complaints, but he was having none of that. “Just go!” he finally snapped. He didn’t turn to see if they were listening or not, but if their hurried steps meant anything, then they were finally listening. For a few moments, his hands hovered as he stared down. The way they wounds still glistened with drops of flesh blood weren’t sitting right with him.

“Ok,” he whispered, taking a deep breath. 

Where was he supposed to start. All the cleaning was done...for now. He grabbed the bandages and cast Steve a quick, sympathetic look. “Sorry,” he muttered, knowing this was going to suck. Maybe not as bad as the alcohol, but it was still going to be uncomfortable - painful.

Jonathan held his breath and moved his leg, moving it to prop it up. Of course, the other didn’t agree much with this and vocally let it be known. “I’ll do this quickly,” he assured. It was a messy job, but he was getting it wrapped up, tight enough, he hoped. Steve barely made a sound during it. He wasn’t sure if he should be thankful for that or not.

It beat having to hear him scream, though.

Once everything was in place, he looked once more to Nancy, who had her full attention on Steve now, stroking his hair back as he drifted in and out of. “How’re you doing?” Jonathan asked after a moment.

Steve didn’t react, but Nancy offered a warm smile. “I-I think he’ll be fine,” she stuttered, cupping his face in her hands. “Steve?”

His brow furrowed. “Hmm?” he hummed, squinting up at her. “Oh, yeah...yeah. Fine.”

“Honestly, Steve, how are you feeling?” Nancy asked.

For once, he thought about that, face scrunching slightly in consideration. “Like shit,” he finally muttered. “Everythin’urts. Thirsty.” He cringed at that last part. His throat was scratchy, unbearably dry. 

“I’ll get some water,” Jonathan offered.

Nancy nodded as he walked by, but remained where she was. Lowly, she looked Steve in the eyes and waited until he was focused on her. “Steve,” she sighed, “why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

He gave a half shrug and cut his eyes away. “Dunno,” he rasped out. “I guess everyone’s already been through so much. This was ‘spose to be week ta’forget all that, ya know?” He shrugged again and winced, letting his eyes close. “If it’was nothin’, I didn’t want anyone to worry for no reason. Wanted everyone to have a chance to relax after a shit show this last year has been.”

Nancy fell silent, at a loss of how to respond. “Steve…” Her mouth stayed open for a couple seconds, but nothing came out.

“Here,” Jonathan said, offering her the glass.

“Thanks. You, uh, got this?” she asked, holding the water out for Steve.

He nodded, grunting as he pulled to prop himself against the arm of the couch. That really shouldn’t have been as difficult as it was, but he kept mostly a straight face and took the glass in his hands. Once more, he fought the urge to drink it all in one go and instead took steady drinks. Besides, after throwing up twice now, he was a tad more wary.

It was still incredibly hot though, and he was aware of the fresh beads of sweat running down his face. There was not a chance the others hadn’t noticed themselves. Which was confirmed when Nancy felt his forehead again.

“Is there a thermometer anywhere here?”

Steve was reluctant, but this was already a lost battle. He released a heavy exhale and muttered, “Should be one in the bathroom drawer.” He continued to drink his water, not realizing how fast he was actually drinking until Jonathan physically pushed the glass down. Over half was already gone.

“Might want to slow down there.”

“Uh, yeah.”

He resisted, and just held the glass between his hands once more, doing everything he can to ignore the rough sensation in his mouth and throat. It didn’t take long before he was raising the glass again, but stopped the moment it touched his lips. His breath caught in his chest and his heart skipped a bit.

“Everything alright?” Jonathan asked as the other’s face paled. “Are you going to be sick again?”

Steve said nothing, but his eyes widened and he stared down at his leg, breaths shallow. He sat there for a few more moments, eyes never moving, as if waiting. Then, “Nothing, it’s nothing. Just imagining things.”

He was still tense as he took a few more sips. Didn’t even bother looking away when Nancy returned thermometer in hand.

“Alright,” she announced, crouching back in her previous spot. “Got it. Steve, open your mouth.” He didn’t respond right away, not until she called his name again, firmer. Flinching, he obeyed her request. They waited in silence. Soon enough, she retrieved it and let out a small, trembling sigh.

“What is it?” 

She paused, looking from the thermometer to Steve, and then back to Jonathan. “Uh, 102,” she answered, getting an estimate. “A little higher than I’m comfortable with.” She raised her attention back. “We really should take him to a hosp-”

“No!” Steve cut back in, breathing speeding up. “No, that’s a terrible idea.” He swallowed thickly and took another gulp of the water, finishing that glass off. Shoving it to Jonathan, nodding to it, he continued, “What the hell are they going to do. You…” he lowered his voice, “you know what they put Will through when he was going through his  _ thing _ , They’ll do the same. Tests that prove  _ nothing,  _ ending up figuring nothing out, and then what? Time is wasted, you become an  _ experiment! _ ” he spat, chest heaving. 

“Alright, it’s ok,” she whispered, in shock at his outburst. “We...we don’t have to go, alright?” 

“Ok...ok,” he repeated, calming down. “Sorry, I-I don’t know what that was all about.” His eyes dropped and he leaned back. By that time, Jonathan was back with a refill. And this time, Steve didn’t bother, just snatched it and chugged it. He finished that glass with a groan and a pitiful, “M’so thirsty,” like he was genuinely confused. 

The other two shared a look and Nancy spoke up. “I know, but I think that’s enough for now.”

Steve said nothing, but he gave a small nod of agreement. He was still aware enough to know that was enough. Just as he tried to hand the glass back, it slipped from his hand with a yell. Not a cry or a whimper, a real, agonized scream.

“Shit!” he grit out, both hands gripping the thigh of his injured leg.

“What!? What’s wrong?” Nancy asked as she looked him up and down, seeing nothing different. “Steve?”

Between gasps and whines, he ground out, “My leg...something….something’s moving.”


	6. Going Out for a Swim

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by: [DragonRiderSayomi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRiderSayomi/pseuds/DragonRiderSayomi)
> 
> My [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) for questions or concerns.

Nancy stood there in stunned silence, eyes quickly glancing between Steve and Jonathan. All the while, the former continued to damn near sob, gripping at his leg and full on panicking. “I-It’s moving!” he exclaimed. His grabbing was escalating into clawing. They couldn’t watch anymore, they had to step in.

“Steve,” Nancy said softly, grabbing his shoulders. “Steve?” Nothing, completely ignored. “Steve! Look at me!”

That seemed to mostly snap him out of it and he reluctantly gave her his attention, but the wild fear remained in his eyes. They lacked focus and were slightly dilated - a fevered glaze. Nonetheless, she humored him and took a look at his leg, gently placing her hand on it.

“See? There’s nothing there, it’s fine.” She looked over her shoulder at Jonathan, who shook his head in bewilderment. Quietly, she mouthed, “Go get some ice.” As he obeyed without a word, she went back to the other. “You’re delirious, you’re not thinking right. Just, relax, alright? We’re taking care of things, so just take it easy.” 

He met her gaze. “Yeah.” Slowly, with her encouragement, he laid back down, form rigid. His chest continued to rise and fall rather quickly. It only slowed when she went back to running her fingers through his hair.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, taking the ice pack. She pressed it against Steve’s face, who sighed and leaned into it. One hand kept that in place and the other continued to stroke hair. With the both of those, it was only a matter of time before his breathing completely evened out and his body sank into the couch. She carried on for a little longer just to make sure he was going to stay asleep for the time being.

Once satisfied, she turned, grabbed Jonathan by the wrist, and started leading him up the stairs. He took the hint and kept his questions to himself until they were far enough away. “What are we doing?”

She said nothing and dragged him in the room with the others. The second they were on the other side of the door, they were bombarded with more questions and concerns than they could keep up with. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Is Steve alright?”

“Is he dying?”

Nancy held up her hands in defense, one finger going to her lips to shush them; they were getting far too loud. She cracked the door enough to peer down, thankfully seeing Steve still asleep. 

“Ok,” she breathed out, “everyone just stay quiet. He’s asleep, and right now, he really needs that.” She strolled over and took a seat on the edge of the bed, one hand raking through damp hair. “We don’t know, we have no idea what’s wrong,” she admitted with a weighted shrug. “With all that’s happened, I’m willing to put my money on any number of things.” Her eyes then cut to El. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything, would you?”

El shook her head, “No.”

“Are we even sure this isn’t something a  _ hospital _ can handle?” Max asked, hand thrown up in exasperation. “Why are we so sure it’s something from some other dimension. The gate  _ is _ closed, isn’t it? It could be like a flesh eating disease or something.”

“No, don’t say that, that’s disgusting,” Lucas said.

“What!? Do you have a better idea?” Max shot back. “Because if you do, now would be the perfect time to share.”

“It’s not a flesh eating disease!” Dustin joined in. “Trust me, they don’t work that fast. And it doesn’t look like...like rotting,” he added, trying to hide how repulsed he was by even saying that.

“Alright, that’s enough, all of you!” Mike yelled. “Will, you’re sure you felt something out there? Like, absolutely positive?”

He nodded. “Yeah, completely sure. It felt...similar, like a tingle. Not really like the flayer though. But it was about the same.” He sounded sure of himself. “Whatever it is though, I don’t think it’s something from this world.”

The others went quiet, taking it all in. “We just can’t get a break, can we?” Nancy chuckled. “If it’s not one thing, it’s something else. If one person isn’t suffering because those damn  _ freaks _ then it’s someone else. Why can’t this just en-” she was cut off when Jonathan pulled her in, pulling her face against his chest.

“So, then what are we supposed to do?” Dustin asked. “I still say we go down to that lake and look for what did this. If we find what caused the bite, we can find out how it did  _ this, _ and what it is, right?” He couldn’t be the only one on board for this. Was he the only one thinking that made the most sense?

But, no one spoke up, for or against the proposition. No one had any better ideas, and that was painfully obvious. The demogorgon and dogs were something else at least; those they could fight and kill those. Whatever this was, it was causing harm from the inside as far as they could tell. But, maybe it was like the gate and the dogs, kill the source and take care of the rest as a result. Or, that’s what Dustin was hoping for. 

“I’m in,” Max nodded.

“Me too,” said Mike, and El nodded.

“So, is anyone not for this then?” Dustin asked, ready to hurry up and go. They were already wasting so much time standing there debating this.

The older two exchanged a look. “Alright,” Nancy said. “I’m in. But...someone has to stay here with him, and I think either me or Jonathan should. Someone has to keep an eye on him. It-it’s getting bad, and I think he’s becoming delusional; hallucinating or something. Whatever it is, it’s not good.”

“I don’t mind,” Jonathan said. “It has to be one of us, and if he has another...moment, someone’s going to have to be able to calm him down, keep him still. If he completely freaks out, he might have to be held down so he doesn’t make anything worse. So, it should probably be me.” 

“Ok, so it’s decided, we go search for this son of a bitch,” Dustin said, a smile on his face.

* * *

It took close to an hour for everyone to get changed, prepare and plan for the task ahead. No one was to go into the water, only around. Not even their feet were to go in. Just search the outskirts and look for anything out of place. It wasn’t worth the risk. One of them was already down due to whatever the hell was out there; they didn’t need a second.

“Everyone ready?” Nancy asked, twirling a crowbar she found in one of the closets. 

There were a few resounding confirmations, all of the kids sporting makeshift weapons of their own. Well, all aside Eleven for obvious reasons. Lucas, of course had his slingshot, never truly going anywhere without it. Mike had plunger. Will, a candlestick. Max was gripping a screwdriver. And Dustin had grabbed a knife from the kitchen. Normally, Nancy would have advised against that, but desperate times.

“Good,” she said, looking to each of them. She tightened her ponytail, and grabbed the crowbar in both hands before shoving the door open. Barely a step out and - 

“Nancy!”

“Jonathan? What is it? Is everything good down there?” She couldn’t hide the edge of worry from her tone. As she spoke, she descended the stairs, eyes going directly to the couch. It only took one second for her to understand. “Jonathan, where’s Steve?”

Without a word, he cut his eyes to his right and she followed his gaze.

The door was wide open.

“ _ Shit.” _

Where the hell did he think he was going? How the hell was he going anywhere? He could barely walk as it were, and now he was gone, disappeared in a matter of seconds. It had seriously been just a few minutes since they last checked on him. So, he couldn’t have gotten too far, right? On the bright side, there wasn’t much - other than what already had - out here that could harm him.

“Steve!” she called. She tried to remain calm, for the kids, but honestly, she was freaking out on the inside. “Ok, where would he go, where would he possibly need to go?” she thought aloud. Other than the road, there was only one reasonable path he could have gone down that she was aware of. At the idea of that, new panic flowed through her. “The lake…” she whispered.

That was all that needed to be said. They were all making a run for it, no one put a second thought into it. Why he would go back there, there was no telling, no time to consider why. As they ran, Nancy glanced at the ground, and sure enough: fresh footprints. Footprints and...specks of red. 

“Steve!” she called again, praying for some sort of response. No surprise, there was none. “Where are you? Hey!” Still nothing. She ran faster, and was vaguely aware of the others screaming and running behind her. Surely he had to hear them.

It was a lifetime, according to her, before they reached the clearing for the lake, and she skidded to a halt, the rest nearly running into her.

“Steve!” she called, blinking, bewildered. “W-What are you doing?” He was just standing there, at the edge of the water. “You need to come back, you shouldn’t be out here, or up at all. Now come on before you make that leg worse, will you?”

He didn’t say a word or even acknowledge they were there. She knew he could hear, but there was no reaction. Then he took a step into the water and just started walking with no signs of stopping.

“Hey, stop!” she demanded, running after him again. In no time, there were quite a few hands on him, yanking him back, forcing him to fall back. Instantly, he attempted to fight them off, like a wild animal being ambushed. “Steve! Knock it off and calm down!”

He let out a whine and pulled harder. “Let go,” he begged, voice cracking. “I-I have to go, get off me!” His hands are clawing at the ground, fingernails scraping at the dirt. “Please.” His breathing was growing frantic, nearly hyperventilating. “Nancy, P-Please? Just let me  _ go.” _ He choked out a sob, not a pained on this time, but one of emotional distress. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Slowly, his fighting became weaker. He was out of breath, exhausted and just overall a wreck. It wasn’t long until he was completely done, and every aside from Jonathan backed away. He, on the other hand, pulled Steve closer, making sure he was as restrained as he could get him.

“What the hell were you doing?” he asked, perhaps a little too intense.

Steve stared up at him with red-rimmed eyes. “I...I don’t know,” his voice quivered. It was almost believable that he had no idea. But, Jonathan wasn’t buying it. Maybe here wasn’t the best place to ask though. He glanced around at all the eyes resting on them. Definitely not here. 

“Ok, alright,” Jonathan sighed, clearly more than a little frustrated. He got to his feet, taking Steve up with him; he didn’t get a choice in walking this time. Not that he was up for putting up a fight, not after wearing himself out. “I’m taking you back to the house, and not letting you out of my sight,” he added under his breath. 

He wasn’t sure why the urge to hold his head close and cover his face was there, but he gave in to it as he passed the others by. 

“You guys, go ahead, it’s fine. I can take care of it from here,” he promised. Besides, he doubted Steve would be able to make another run for it like that. Then again, he didn’t think he was capable of doing so the first time. He kept his pace steady, almost like he was afraid going too fast would jostle his cargo. 

He waited until he was out of earshot before looking down and mentally checking him over. No new injuries he could see. “So, you’re really trying to tell us you have no idea why you ran all the way out here and tried to go for a swim?” he asked skeptically. 

Steve hesitated, brow furrowed as he turned his head to bury it more. “I really don’t,” he rasped. Then he cleared his throat and turned just enough for one eye to stare up, unblinking. “There was...just this need...to, uh, get in the water.” He chuckled lightly, nervously. “Like something in my ‘ead was tellin’ me to go.” His mouth pressed into a thin line and he huffed through his nose. “Jonathan?” he started again after a moment. There was something off about his tone. “What the hell is wrong with me?”

* * *

The others stood there, processing what they had just witnessed. Something they really, clearly, did not have time for anymore. Nancy’s hands were still shaking. The only reason she could think of for him being out was an attempt to drown himself, which left a very bitter taste on the back of her tongue. 

“Let’s get started,” she said almost inaudibly. She didn’t wait for the others before she started walking, started to the left. “It’s best we split up, cover as much ground as possible.”

“Yeah,” Dustin nodded instantly. “Let’s kick some monster ass!” The others were quick to follow, and with that, they split in pairs. Lucas and Max, Mike and Eleven, and Dustin and Will. Nancy decided to go alone, wanting to cover as much as possible. They all insisted multiple times for her to join one of their pairs, but she denied them all. 

So, she covered the area immediately around the lake while the others spread out around it. That was the best plan as far as she was concerned, you only needed one for that area. Plus, it meant none of them would be close to it. 

Dustin and Will took the area between the lake and the house, though Dustin was already sure they weren’t going to find anything. If that thing attacked from the water, then it was most likely still in the water. Unless it was like the first time and hopped between dimensions, back and forth. But with the gate closed up, the likelihood of it still being able to do that was questionable.

“So, you feel anything?” he asked Will, trying not to let his hopes get too high.

The other breathed deeply before muttering a disappointed “No, nothing.” He paused for a short moment. “But, when Steve was acting weird back there, that strange tingle was back, like it was shivering down my spine. Dustin, I think whatever was in the water, whatever bit him, I think a part of it is still there with him...in him. I think it might be controlling him.”

Dustin yelled, throwing his hands up. 

“Dammit, Will, why didn’t you say anything sooner!?” 

“Because it doesn’t make a difference. You know what we know, and that’s that something bit him, so something is still out here, right? Whatever is doing this is out here, not with him.”

“You just said it was.”

Will let out an irritated growl. “No, I think...I believe a part of it is. Remember how the demodogs worked? There were a lot of those, but they worked like a hive mind. I think this is the same. We have to find whatever caused it and kill it. I’m sure of it.”

There was no doubt there was a huge difference in what was going on with Steve and what went on with Will with the mind flayer, but Will did have more experience than any of them with this stuff, so there wasn’t much Dustin could do in the department of arguing with him. Dustin looked him in the face, and all he could see was determination and certainty, so he let out a heavy exhale.

“Alright, I’ll take your word for it. But only because I don’t know of anything better.”

“Do you trust me?”

“I said I’ll take your word for it, didn’t I?”

Will stopped, beckoning the other to do the same. “Yeah, but do you  _ trust _ me? There’s a difference.”

Dustin pursed his lips and searched Will’s face. “Yes, of course I trust you. I have no reason not to. I know you wouldn’t lie about this and wouldn’t suggest this if you weren’t a hundred percent sure. But, I have to ask. You wouldn’t happen to know where this thing is, would you?”

“If I knew, we wouldn’t be looking.”

“Right, yeah, of course,” Dustin mumbled. “I guess the search goes on.”

* * *

Nancy’s eyes were scanning all over the place, never remaining in one place for long before moving on to the next. There was nothing so far, not a single sign to go off of. She was quickly losing her patience, something she couldn’t afford.

“Where are you, you bastard?” she wondered out loud, gripping the crowbar tighter, twisting it in her hands. 

She finally made it to the other side of the lake and was getting ready to step over a log when a putrid smell caught her attention. She halted and sniffed the air again, almost gagging on the scent. One hand raised to cover her mouth and nose. Cautiously, she peered over the log, blood running cold. 

A trail, a crimson one, like something was dragged. 

Nancy held her breath and took a quick glance around. There was nothing, the coast was clear. One steady step at a time, she followed. The blood still appeared fresh. Even her breath was steady as she investigated. With every step she took, the crowbar was raised higher, ready to attack if the need arose. 

Then she heard it, crunching and squelching. Something was definitely being eaten, bones and all. She stopped, but her eyes continued forward, following the trail as it curved around a tree. Red heavily stained the area surrounding it. And, just poking out, was a tail, greenish and slimy. Too large to be a slug, and she didn’t know what else it could have been. 

She swallowed thickly, and stepped forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And only 2 chapters left. ;w; I'll try to get them up as soon as possible~


	7. Something is Definitely Moving

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta read by: [DragonRiderSayomi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRiderSayomi/pseuds/DragonRiderSayomi)
> 
> My [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) for questions or concerns.

Nancy didn’t dare let a single breath out as she approached  whatever the hell was now crawling on the ground . Inch by inch, she drew closer, cringing inwardly at the sounds coming from it. So far, it didn’t seem to notice her. 

‘You can do this,’ she told herself, raising her weapon higher over her head. She steadied herself and took a deep breath, straightening up. She had to do this quick, while it was distracted. Now a mere couple feet away, she was done waiting and just went for it, swinging her crowbar down. Nancy squeezed her eyes shut the moment before it made contact.

* * *

Again, Jonathan had Steve settled on the couch, both of them slightly out of breath. The latter had his eyes tightly shut, head pressed into the pillow, body tense. Still, his hands gripped at the thigh of his injured leg as whines escaped him. He muttered to himself, words the other couldn’t make out. 

He didn’t know what else he was supposed to do for the guy. They already did everything they were capable of doing at this point. With a heavy breath, he pulled one of the chairs closer and sat about a foot away from Steve, hands clasped between his knees. He opened his mouth a few times to say something, but could never quite come up with the right words to say.

“Is there, uh, anything I can do or get for ya?” he asked awkwardly, eyes cast downward.

It took a moment for Steve to react as he cut his gaze over, groaning like that alone took too much effort. A slightly humored snort escaped him. “A glass of water?” He may have been almost completely out of it, but even he could see the irony in that request. He cringed at the raspiness of his own throat. Speaking was starting to become a minor bother. 

Jonathan was a little reluctant, sitting there for a few seconds as he tapped his foot, looking from Steve to the kitchen.

“Don’worry, m’not gon’ anywhere,” Steve assured with a flop of his hand. 

The other huffed out a breath and got to his feet. “Alright, ok, if you say so.” It was only going to be a second, and from the looks of it, he could hardly keep his eyes open. He’s honestly be surprised if the guy could stand without instantly collapsing into a heap.

As expected, by the time he returned, Steve hadn’t moved an inch. Dozed off a little bit, but other than that, nothing. Handing the glass over carefully, Jonathan nodded down at his leg, to the gauze sprinkled with blood. “Mind if I take another look?”

Steve paused mid sip, eyes peeking over the rim of the glass. He pressed his lips together and muttered a soft, “Go ahead.” 

He stared forward, eyes never drifting anywhere near Jonathan as he slipped his way over, cautiously.  A subtle heat radiating from the wound, his fingers barely glanced over the stained material when Steve flinched from the movement . “Sorry,” he quickly whispered before pinching the edge of the gauze. There was a slight trembling running through his hand; he was already regretting this decision, for the both of them.

As slowly as he could, he peeled it back, grimacing at the way the fresh-appearing wound gripped at the cloth. How the hell was is still so wet? It was like it wasn’t clotting at all. He didn’t understand; even by weird alternate dimension standards, this wasn’t making any sense to him. The clear increase in breathing rate could be heard.

“This won’t be long,” he muttered, not looking away from the sight before him. “What the hell?” he questioned to himself, squinting his eyes. Holding his breath, he pulled back to reveal the wound in full and almost gagged at the image of it. 

Just as he did so, Steve gasped and a shatter resounded, glass skitting in all directions. Before Jonathan could respond, he was practically shoved aside as the other curled up and clutched at the limb. “Shit!” he croaked out between quick and shallow breaths. His whines evolved into strained sobs he could barely choke out.

“What!? What’s going on!?” Jonathan blurted, on his feet without remembering doing so. 

All Steve replied with was an agonized cry. 

“Steve!?” Jonathan tried again, attempting to snap the teen out of it.

That sort of did the trick when the other forced his distressed cries to calm down and gave him the best of his attention that he could offer. “M’leg,” he ground out, turning his head and hiding his face against the cushion. Something trickled out of the corner of his mouth, something Jonathan wasn’t going to take a guess at. “S-Something’s,” he gasped, “Something’s moving. I can feel’t.” 

“What, feel what?” he asked, stomach dropping from the pure, unadulterated  _ terror _ in his voice. He was sure he didn’t hear that right. There was no way in hell he heard that right. But...

“Need t’get it out,” Steve slurred, hands still grasped tightly over the wound. 

Jonathan had no idea what he was talking about, but he had to do something before the man hurt himself even more. The way he was clawing at his own leg...blood was already under his nails and droplets soaked into the couch as he caused fresh drops to blossom. 

“Steve, I need you to move your hands, alright?” When he didn’t cooperate right away, Jonathan was forced to grab his wrists and yank them back, which was surprisingly harder than he imagined it to be. The second he freed the limb, his stomach completely bottomed out. “What the  _ hell,” _ he shuddered out, one hand releasing its hold to cover his mouth. He wanted to vomit as he watched the other’s skin  _ twitch _ , like maggots festering in a carcass. Only larger. All the while, Steve was full on crying now, eyes holding very little lucidity in them. He was right about one thing, they had to get those things out, but all the ways he could think of caused his insides to churn uneasily.

He didn’t have time to consider the options. Whatever these were, they were causing obvious pain, and the longer they remained in there, the worse it was going to be.

“I’ll be right back!” he promised, rushing to the kitchen. He nearly slipped on the wooden floors in his hurry. He grabbed the first blade his hand came across before he returned with it trembling in his grasp.

Steve’s eyes widened as light reflected off the edge. “Fuck, jus’doit,” he ground out and squeezed his eyes shut. 

“Alright,” Jonathan muttered. He couldn’t believe he was about to do this or how willing Steve was to  _ allow _ or _ trust _ him to do this. The tip of the blade hovered a mere few inches over flesh, and Jonathan had to fight back a gag as the movement became more visible. The more evident it became, the more Steve writhed and whimpered. And the sounds...it was like… His throat tightened. Were they  _ eating _ his leg from the inside out?

He forced down whatever nausea was climbing up his throat and pressed the knife down. The reaction was instantaneous. He barely nicked the skin when Steve absolutely lost it. Like he was just stabbed. It was the first  _ real _ scream he produced. All he could do was try to ignore it. His momentary discomfort would be worth it if he got these things the hell out. 

“Just bear with me,” he encouraged, giving Steve’s shoulder a quick reassuring pat before carrying on. 

Easier said than done, he was certain. Biting his bottom lip, he pressed the blade deeper, wincing at the pained protests coming from his right. He sliced deeper until a stream of crimson flowed down his leg. And then Jonathan saw it, one of those  _ things  _ causing all this. It squirmed as it was exposed. Not knowing what else to do, he took the tip of the blade and stabbed it through the creature, extracting it. It really did look like an oversized slug.

But, one quick glance down told him that wasn’t the only one. 

“Shit,” he growled.

He shot back up, leaving to find something to put these in as he pulled them out. He took a single step and a hand weakly grabbed his wrist. He cut his eyes down to see Steve staring, pleadingly, back up at him.

“Water,” he muttered.

“Not right now,” Jonathan said. What the fuck was he on about water for?

Steve didn’t release his hold and tried to pull down on him. “No,” he muttered, an edge of irritation to his tone. “Lot o’water,” he clarified, voice trembling as he fought back whimpers. “Need to get  _ in _ the water,” he said as clearly as he could. Jonathan was about to protest until he added, “Trust me; they need’t.”

Jonathan’s brows furrowed, but he thought he was understanding. “They...want you to get in the water?” he asked, aware of how ridiculous that sounded. But, Steve nodded his confirmation. “You sure about this? What if what  _ they want _ isn’t the best idea here?” He was quickly losing his patience.

Steve shook his head frantically. “Trust me!” he yelled, shoulders shaking. “Just...need t’get in the damn water!”

The other teen just sighed deeply. This was a terrible idea, deep down he knew how reckless this was. But, he was panicking, they both were, they had little options, and honestly, he wasn’t sure he could handle cutting another one of those things out.

“Alright, lets go,” he sighed.

* * *

Nancy let out a trembling exhale and risked cracking an eye open. A quick swear left her lips when she was greeted with nothing; the spot was empty aside from the bloody stains of that thing’s prey. She glanced around and caught the end of its tail just in time for it to disappear back in the water.

“Dammit,” she grunted, running forward and taking another swing just to create a splash. Her chest heaved with every breath she drew and a shaking hand raked through her hair. This couldn’t be happening, she wanted to refuse that any of this was real. “Dammit, come back!” she shouted, striking the shore again. Of course, nothing replied, nothing moved; not that she was expecting anything different. But, a part of her couldn’t help but be a tad hopeful.

For a few moments, she stood there, teeth lightly grinding as she just watched, waiting for something. Anything. She had no idea why her eyes were stinging as bad as they were, but she swiped the back of her hand over them with one last, frustrated swear.

Tossing the crowbar to the ground with a ‘thud’, she dropped herself next to it and folded her arms over her knees.

She couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe she let that little bastard get away. She had it, it was  _ right  _ there, right in front of her. She had it, and she screwed it up. Now, it was back in the water, no telling where it was going, no idea when she’d see it come out again, if it even did. And all the while Steve was possibly dying.

Nancy was painfully aware that sitting there, watching and sulking wasn’t going to do anything. And yet, she couldn’t be bothered to move. It was like she was almost afraid that the moment she did, it would pop back out and she’d miss it. She could have sat there all day and night, and likely would have if she didn’t see a couple of the kids approaching from the corner of her eye. Just a little closer and she made out the faces of Mike ane El.

Before either of them could say or do anything, she muttered, “It got away.”

“What?” Mike asked.

“That  _ thing _ that did this. It was here, I saw it, and I let it get away, back in the water.” She waved her hand in front of her with a weighted exhale. 

The other two were quiet for a second and Mike spoke up again. “So, what was it? Was it like the others?”

Nancy slowly shook her head. “No, I don’t know what I would describe it as. An oversized slug? I guess? Had the same face though, I know that much. So definitely more of those things.” Her voice was soft, eyes still forward towards the lake.

“Maybe we should just head back?” Mike offered. “At least we know for a fact there is something out here, right? We could probably come up with a plan or something, try to lure it out? You and Jonathan did it before, didn’t you?”

He did have a point, they already knew what they were dealing with. “Yeah, let’s just find the others.”

Even with her agreement, she was reluctant with getting to her feet. And as they walked, her eyes continuously glanced to the water. She refused to let it out of her sight for more than a minute at a time. If anything were to move, or pop up anywhere, there was not a chance she was going to miss it, she’d make sure of that.

Lucas and Max weren’t too far away, and from there The other two didn’t take a whole lot of searching. Especially with how loud Dustin was talking. As expected, he was also the only one putting up a fight to stay out here. They weren’t even out that long, and they were so close. But, with a bit of convincing, mostly about the fact that the lake was rather large, and without swimming in it and risking getting bit, there wasn’t any way to search for it until it came out. As much as it pained him to admit - and temporarily give up - he knew they were right.

All of the walk back was in silence, either they were exhausted, terrified, or heavily concerned. Or a combination of all three. Nancy’s hand lightly touched the door as a chill ran down her spine, down all of their spines. Someone was screaming, sounds of absolute agony.

“Was that?” Lucas asked, not needing to finish that sentence.

Nancy shoved the door open, and the first thing her eyes locked on to were the stains of red on the couch, trailing along the floor. She held a hand out, silently ordering the kids to stay behind her as she followed.

“Jonathan?” she called out, doing everything she could to keep the trembling out of her tone. She doubted she was very successful though.

To her surprise, vaguely under the cries, she heard “In here!”

Finally, over the buzzing in her ears, she could hear it: running water. Right, the bathroom. She just made it to the door, and Jonathan appeared in the entrance, eyes wide, face pale and lined with terror. 

“Will, you and the others...stay back.” They didn’t know what it was, maybe it was the severity of his tone, or the ghostly appearance, but they did as he asked, and took a step back even. “Nancy-” Whatever he was about to say was cut short by another cry, this one raw, gripping at her chest. “Shit,” he swore, turning his back to her.

“J-Jonathan, what the hell is going on?” she asked, pushing her way inside. “Wha-” She instantly thought she was about to pass out. Her hand pressed against the wall and she bowed her head a few degrees. “Jonathan...what is that?” she whispered, staring right at Steve’s leg. Or the mutilated limb that slightly resembled a leg. There was so much blood, it was hard to tell how bad it really was.

He didn’t say a word as he crouched next to a pot. But her eyes were locked on the other teen. Seemingly unaware of her presence, he continued to cry out. He was still in his clothes as water ran from the shower. But the worst of it was still his lower half. She stared, unblinking, and she really hoped that was her imagination when something  _ moved  _ under his skin. 

“Jonathan!?” she shouted, hand gripping his shoulder.

“I know!” he snapped back as he took his knife and stabbed it through that  _ thing _ that slithered out of the wound. “I know, I know,” he repeated under his breath and flung the now dead creature in the pot with the others, she now noticed occupied it.

“What the hell are those!?” they head Dustin exclaim, followed by a few other questions, some less reserved than others.

“I told you guys to stay back!” Jonathan shouted back, eyes never leaving the mess before him. Meanwhile, Nancy moved a bit closer to Steve, hands stretching out to take his face in her hands and she cupped it lightly. “Hey,” she muttered softly, stroking both cheeks gently with her thumbs. Finally, slowly, he moved his gaze to acknowledge her presence, but said nothing. “Steve, hey, look at me.” She stared right at his face, never once allowing her attention to wander away. 

He drew in a sharp breath, but he pried his eyes open partially to gaze back. His eyes were unfocused and veiled in a moistened sheet, but he kept his attention on her while Jonathan worked. 

“That’s it,” she encouraged, risking a glance in the other’s direction. Just as the last syllable left her mouth, he tensed and flinched under her touch, another cry tearing from his throat. “Shhh,” she shushed, aware it was no longer getting through to him.

Nancy jerked her head to the side and watched while another one of those creatures- whatever the fuck they were - damn near gnawed its way out of the wound. Nausea crept up her throat and she had to peel her attention away and back to Steve’s face, a face that had whitened beyond what she believed to be plausible.

“It’s fine, you’re fine, it’s almost over,” she said over and over. She prayed to herself that there was at least a little bit of truth to her ramblings and not merely comforting mutterings. “Just stay awake and bear through it.”

To her surprise, he released a small whimper that sounded somewhat like an ‘alright’. He choked back a sob, jaw tightened. Before she realized what she was doing, Nancy had pulled him in, hand still cradling his head. His breaths flitted unevenly over her neck as his form shuddered in her grasp. Then, one agonized gasp and his body relaxed suddenly.

“Got it!” Jonathan said aloud, another soft thud indicated it being added to the pile with the rest. “How’s he holding up?” he asked, quieter.

Nancy slowly shook her head, shifting Steve enough to reveal his face - relaxed yet still lined with discomfort. “I think he passed out,” she mumbled, giving his cheek a slight pat only to get zero reaction. “Steve?” she called out, this time with a small shake. 

Nothing.

Jonathan just nodded and turned back to his leg. He waited a few seconds, even giving the limb a less than gentle prod. “Well, good news is, I think that was the last one.” As far as he could tell there wasn’t any more movement. 

She gazed back down and cringed both inwardly and outwardly. Looking at it now, maybe a hospital really wasn’t such a bad idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, one chapter left~ And I do have two more fics written to edit and post after this one. So I hope people are still sticking around when that happens. XD Or hope people are still in the fandom for that~


	8. The Bear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it is, the last chapter to this one. ;w;
> 
> Beta read by: [DragonRiderSayomi](http://archiveofourown.org/users/DragonRiderSayomi/pseuds/DragonRiderSayomi)
> 
> My [Tumblr](http://elillierose.tumblr.com/) for questions or concerns.

“So, what the hell are we doing?” Dustin asked for what he was sure had to be the thousandth time. He stood next to the couch as Nancy dabbed at Steve’s face with a damp rag and Jonathan finished patching his leg up. The whole time, Steve hardly made a sound. Aside from the occasional groan or whine, he was awfully quiet. 

Bright side was it didn’t appear to be getting any worse. But, he clearly wasn’t improving any either. He still had a slight fever and was still in obvious pain. 

“I told you,” Nancy said with a sigh, “we have to get him to a hospital for professional help.” As if on cue, the teen shifted with a whimper and furrowed brows. “Look, whatever those things were, they’re gone now and there aren’t signs of more.”

“And how do you know there aren’t more?” Mike asked, waving a hand in their direction.

“I don’t,” she replied sharply. “But he’s seriously hurt and dying, Mike.” She instantly silenced herself. Probably not the best choice of words, but she had a point to get across.

“I’m with Nancy,” Jonathan piped up.

“Same,” Max agreed.

As much as he worried and cared about Steve, Dustin couldn’t help but question their priorities. “And what?” he asked, gesturing to the door. “We just leave whatever that was out there? Just leave it to do whatever it does?”

Nancy took a deep, long breath before slowly releasing it. “Do you know what’s connected to this lake?” No answers. “The river that runs through Hawkins. It runs from there, through here. So whatever it was, it likely came from there, more than likely. And that lake is huge, the fact that we saw it once was nearly a miracle, and now with the possibility of it going either up or down river. Yeah, I’d say we’re out of luck here.”

Silence fell over the room. The only noise to be heard was Steve’s labored breathing; breathing that became more erratic and uneven by the second. He shifted, and whatever ideas were going to be tossed out were held back as all attention instead fell to him.

“Steve?” Nancy welcomed, tone much softer than it had been previously. “Hey, you with us?”

He let out a choked groan and turned his head away from the light. “The hell…?” he croaked, eyes still tightly shut. He tried to move again, only for it to result in another whimper and a flinch. “Shit,” he muttered.

“Easy, we’re going to get you to a hospital, alright?” Nancy assured. She shot a glare back, daring anyone to argue with her on this. “How much do you remember?”

His brows pinched and his eyes finally revealed slivers of brown. “Uhhhh, I remember, uh, the shower?” he questioned. Nancy nodded for him to continue. “And,” he swallowed thickly, as if the urge to throw up was returning, “I remember those lil’bastards. And you,” he sluggishly pointed to Jonathan, “stabbin’ e’m out or somethin’....” he trailed off in order to take a shuddering breath. 

“Ok, so I guess it’s safe to say you basically remember all of it,” she sighed. 

“Unfortunately.” His hand drifted to rest on his thigh, fingers slightly furled. “Did ya fin’it?” I asked, barely audible. Already, he was dozing back off. Not that any of them were surprised; he had lost a lot of blood over the last 24 hours.

Nancy didn’t bother answering, knowing he wouldn’t be awake long enough to hear the answer anywhere. Instead, she stroked his hair until his breaths evened back out and she let out a heavy exhale of her own.

“So,” she said after a moment, “What’re we waiting for, it’s a long drive back into town. Don’t worry about packing anything, someone will come back for it later.”

* * *

Nancy may have broken a few traffic laws on the way back, but as far as she was concerned, they were justified. This definitely constituted as an emergency, and she was willing to defend her reasoning with anyone she had to. She returned within half of the expected time, much to the dismay of the kids, most of which let their complaints vocally known. Mike especially. Him, El and Dustin both regretted their decision not to ride back with Jonathan by the end of it. Mike was in the front with Nancy,  El and Dustin in the back with the latter serving as a pillow for Steve.

Speaking of, the teen again barely woke up the whole hour or so back. Only letting out pained groans when a sharp turn was taken or a bump jostled him. 

The second they were parked, Nancy was hauling Steve out, one of his limp arms thrown over her shoulders. “Come on, Steve,” she muttered, yanking him up. “I know it sucks, but I need you to put some effort in here.” 

Without needing to be told, Dustin was on the other side, doing what he could to lift his other side. She nodded her thanks, and together, at a slow and painful pace, they began working their way to the entrance. It wasn’t until they crossed the threshold and had multiple pairs of eyes on them that they realized what a sight they must be. A teenage girl and a preteen dragging in another teen whose leg was covered in blood. They were leaving a slight smudged trail and both had the crimson color all over them.

“We need help.”

It was like a rush after that. Steve was taken from her without a word and a hand rested on her shoulder, trying to guide her away.

“Ma’am?”

Nancy finally snapped out of it and turned, wide-eyed, as a nurse gazed right at her. “Hmm?” she asked. A wave of exhaustion washed over her now that someone else was taking over this mess at last.

“I just need you to fill out some papers if you’re able to,” she said, handing a clipboard. Then she glanced at the rest of them over. “Are any of you hurt?”

Nancy shook her head, gazing down at all the blood staining her clothes, and she felt sick again. “N-No, it’s all...it’s all…” she gave up and just nodded towards where they whisked Steve away to. The nurse simply nodded and started to lead them away towards a waiting room. They all gratefully took their seats.

Right away, she got to filling in the blanks, name, age etc, all that was easy. It wasn’t until then that she realized how little she knew about the guy. Allergies? She had no idea. Knew little to nothing about any of his history. Then the part for his current visit. She pursed her lips and tapped the pen against the paper. What the hell was she even supposed to put here? What natural thing could cause an injury such as that?

She breathed out heavily and just scribbled the first thing that came to her mind that made any sort of sense.

Now, all that was left was to wait. Of course, Jonathan and the others arrived before any sort of information did. She glanced at the clock. Nearly five in the afternoon now. They’d already been waiting here for nearly an hour. Nancy tapped her foot impatiently, and surprisingly, no one said a word.

About another hour, and finally, someone stepped towards them and both Nancy and Dustin were on their feet in an instant. 

“Harring-” was all he managed to get out before the both of them stepped up, silently demanding answers. He took a deep breath and lowered his glasses. “He’ll be fine,” he started off with a sympathetic smile. “He’s lost quite a bit of blood though. And recovery will take some time, but he should b-”

“Can we see him?” Dustin interrupted. 

The man stuttered, momentarily at a loss for words. “I don’t have any problems against it, but keep in mind, he’s on quite a bit of medication and might not be ful-”

“That’s fine, just take us...please.” Dustin straightened up slightly and folded his hands over his lap. 

He opened his mouth and closed it a few times, eyes drifting from one to the other, looking over everyone sitting before him before letting out a long, drawn out sigh. “Very well, if you’ll just follow me. It was pretty clear there was no use saying anything. “Right this way.”

They all followed less than a foot behind him. It wasn’t long until he finally stopped in front of a door and took a step to the side, gesturing with his hand with a small bow. “Go right on ahead, he should be awake.” They didn’t need to be told twice. Well, Dustin didn’t need to be as he shoved his way in, not allowing anyone to go in before him.

“Steve!?” he blurted the moment he was through. Hw didn’t take another step when he looked the teen over. He wasn’t sure if it was the lighting or the fact that he was finally cleaned up, but somehow he appeared even more exhausted then he had over the last couple of days. He was pale with dark circles under his eyes. 

“The injury was pretty severe,” the doctor continued from the hall, gazing in. “But, all in all, I’d say he was pretty lucky for a bear attack survivor.” He offered them all one last, warm smile and strolled off, leaving them alone.

“A bear?” Jonathan asked, glancing to Nancy with an eyebrow raised.

She shrugged. “What? It was believable, wasn’t it?” She glanced at Steve. “Besides, I’m sure he’d be alright having to tell that story to people as opposed to ‘diving accident’ or something else like that.”

He muttered a quiet “Good point.”

“Oh hey,” Steve slurred out after a moment, as if he just noticed them all standing there. His eyes weren’t completely open. He flopped a hand, and they could only assume it was supposed to be a wave. “What brings all you ‘ere?” He took a deep breath and huffed it out with a wince. Despite his question, he barely looked their way, completely uninterested in any questions.

“Got you on the good stuff, I see,” Mike muttered, earning more than one light nudge of warning.

But, he still earned a slightly enthusiastic thumbs up from the main man himself. “Indeed, Wheeler,” he slurred, dropping his hand back to his side. “Still feel like shit’though,” he added. Clearing his throat, he tried to pull himself up. Emphasis on ‘tried’. All it did was result in another groan and him giving up after the first attempt. 

“I think you should stay where you are,” Nancy suggested, seeing just how much of a struggle that little bit was. Already, it took a lot out of him. His chest heaved with every breath and there was a slight shine to his forehead. Rather it was from effort or fever, she didn’t know. “So,” she continued, “how’re you feeling now? Does it still hurt?”

He took a moment to process the question, but eventually he gave a single, small nod. “Not that bad,” he said, raising a hand to rub at his eyes. It was clear he was fighting sleep, forcing himself to stay awake for their sake. “But...what about those things?” he asked for a moment. “You know...those... _ things?” _

Jonathan pressed his lips together before answering. “Don’t worry, they’re dead. As for the other one, the big one that attacked you. Well...I’m sorry, but we don’t know where that one is.” He lowered his eyes to the floor, unable to look the other in the eyes.

Steve was silent for a few moments, and then mumbled a soft “Oh.” He took a few more, then asked, “Is everyone alright though?” He opened his eyes a bit more, enough to fully check everyone out, and instantly he noticed the blood on both Nancy and Jonathan. His mouth opened in question, but she replied before he could ask.

“Don’t worry...it’s not ours.” That was all she needed to say for him to understand.

“Oh,” he said again, cutting his eyes towards his heavily bandaged leg. It didn’t exactly leave a pleasant taste in his mouth, but he prefered that over any of the other alternatives. “That’s good, I guess.” He stared forward. Despite everyone being here and things relatively fine, it was obvious there was still something plaguing everyone’s minds, and he had a feeling he knew exactly what that was. “So...what’s the plan from here?”

More thick silence.

“We need to find out where it came from,” Dustin said simply. “There shouldn’t be anything left, not now, so where the hell could it have come from?” No surprise, no one had any answers for him, not even El. But, she did fidget in her spot, attention downcast and thumbs twirling.

“We can worry about that later,” Nancy muttered. “Now probably isn’t the best time to discuss this, not with all that just happened.” No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get the image or the sound of Steve sobbing and screaming as monsters essentially ate their way out of his leg. Just the thought caused a shudder to run down her spine. “I think we all just need to take a break, get some sleep and talk about this tomorrow. We need to let Hopper know, at least, before doing anything.”

Steve mumbled something incoherently, but they all had an idea about what it was seeing as he waved his hand again, this time submissively as his eyes fluttered. He definitely didn’t need to be told twice to take it easy seeing as he was way ahead of them. Yet, the idiot was still clearly trying to stay awake.

“Steve,” Jonathan spoke up, strolling close enough to place a firm hand on his shoulder, “go to sleep, it’s fine.” He gave a gentle squeeze and took his hand away. “I think someone should stay here with you though. And I don’t mind unless you’d prefer someone else...or someone else wants to?” he offered, scanning the room. 

“Nah, is’fine,” Steve assured, sounding more and more out of it by the second. “You’can stay.” He took a deep breath, and that was it, he was out for the count just like that. 

Jonathan sighed and folded his arms loosely over his chest. “It’s fine,” he said, you all should all head home. If anyone asks why you’re back so early, just tell them about the bear,” he shrugged with an amused smirk. 

“You sure you’re good with staying here?” Nancy asked. “Because I don’t mind if not.”

He shook his head slowly. “Really it’s fine. Besides, don’t you think that after all this, it might be a bit...well, awkward for the both of you? Him especially with the drugs and all?” She peered around him at the still form, and she hated that she couldn’t argue with that. As much as she wanted to help, their history might just add more stress to the already burdened teen. 

“Right,” she whispered, leaning forward to give the other a quick kiss on the cheek. “Just...call to let me know if anything changes, alright?”

He gave her a nod and a wave goodbye as she stepped out, ushering for the rest to follow. Dustin, however, took a bit more convincing than the others. They had to make it a point that they doubted Steve wanted to wake up to more than one person hovering over him. Hell, he likely didn’t even want one there with him, but it wasn’t like he had much choice about that.

As soon as the last of them stepped out, Jonathan carefully shut the door behind them and pulled a chair up next to the bed and instantly dropped into it. It was like all the adrenaline finally drained from him and he leaned his head back. These last couple of days have been long, too long if you ask him.

And he was sure it was about to be a long day and night as well.

He glanced at the clock to see that barely any time had passed and let out a deep sigh. Yup, this was going to be awhile.

* * *

Jonathan must have dozed off at some point because the next thing he knew, he was being woken up by the door creaking open. He jolted, heart hammering as he jumped to his feet. He calmed marginally when he recognized the visitor as a nurse. 

“Sorry,” she quickly apologized, “didn’t mean to startle you. Just need to do a quick check on things.”

He slowly sat back down with a soft hum. “Oh, no, you’re fine. Just a little jumpy, I guess.”

Jonathan sat there quietly, tense and watched her buzz around the bed, checking temperature, pulse etc. He half paid attention to any of it. Only really heard her mention something about him still having a slight fever. Either way, he was too focused on the other’s face, waiting for some sort of reaction to all this. Not that there was much of one; he did stir lightly, but that was about it, nothing really lucid.

The moment the prodding was done was the moment he settled back down like nothing had ever happened. He slipped back into a deep sleep, and once more, the two of them were left by themselves. This time, though, Jonathan managed to stay awake long enough until Steve shifted again.

The teen groaned in discomfort and his face twisted as he began to come around. Jonathan leaned forward, unaware of the fact that he was holding his breath when Steve took in a sharp inhale and flinched as he tried to shift.

He gave the other a moment to process what was going on before speaking.

“Steve?” he whispered. Even then, he still jolted subtly at his voice, eyes shooting open and attention snapping to Jonathan. “Hey, it’s fine, it’s alright. It’s just me.” His hands hovered just above the other as recognition slowly settled in his gaze and his breaths calmed down. “See? It’s all good.”

Steve nodded with a small hum and leaned his head back. He drew in another steadying breath and slowly blew it back out. Then, an eye cracked open and traveled around the room. “Where…” he asked, voice trailing off when the dryness of his throat beckoned him to stop.

“If you’re asking where you are, then a hospital,” Jonathan replied. “But, if you want to know where the others went, I sent them home for the time being. Figured you’d want some space,” he shrugged.

The other teen nodded and pulled himself up by about an inch. Even that was enough to elicit a hiss to slip between his teeth. “This sucks, big time,” he muttered with a humorless chuckle. For a moment, no one spoke, and no one moved until the curiosity started to get to Steve and he propped himself on one of his elbows. The other hand - shakily - reached down and gripped the sheet to slowly pull it away. Of course, there wasn’t much to see, everything was tightly wrapped. But still, even seeing that was verifying most of what happened.

“So...that actually happened?” he asked, cutting his eyes over. “You know... _ that? _ ”

Jonathan’s lips pressed together and he gave his silent confirmation. “Afraid so. But, it’s over now, I made sure there wasn’t anything else. They’re all out.”

Steve swallowed down his sudden nausea. As much as he was thrilled about that news, the fact they were in there to begin with still wasn’t sitting right with him. “Thanks,” he finally said, quietly, “I appreciate it. I know it was probably pretty gross.” Slowly, he leaned back again with a weary exhale. “Ah shit,” he groaned after a couple seconds.

“What? Is something wrong?”

“Hell yeah it is,” Steve mumbled, draping an arm over the upper half of his face. “That place was a mess last I remember…” Another long and drawn out groan. Although it seemed impossible, the guy sank deeper.

Jonathan couldn’t help but shake his head. “Don’t worry about that, we can get it cleaned up in time. We have to go back for our stuff anyway. We sort of left in a rush. So, we’ll get the place as clean as we can when we go back up there.” The more he talked, the more his mind buzzed with a question he should have asked first. “Uh, but, should someone maybe call your parents? Let them know what’s going on?”

Steve moved his arm just enough to peer under it. “No, don’t bother, they’re both busy.”

‘As always,’ he thought to himself, fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

“Anyone else we can call?” Jonathan asked, a bit quieter. This time, the only response he got was a shake of his head. 

He took a deep breath and held it, uncovering his face to look directly at Jonathan. He wasn't sure if it was the pain, the exhaustion or the medication - or a mix of all three - but it just slipped out: “No one, you and the others...uh, are probably the closest people I have right now.” He looked away to stare straight forward at the wall instead. God, why did his eyes have to start stinging now? “You, Nancy, those...shitheads,” he muttered, thrusting his hand towards the door. A quivering exhale and he shook his head. “It’s stupid, just forget I said anything.”

Jonathan stayed seated where he was, but he now sat leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “It’s not stupid,” he assured, sounding more certain of himself than he had in the last couple of days. “I mean, I get it, look at who you’re talking to,” he said with a smirk.

Steve just shook his head and turned it to the other side. “Yeah, but you have Nancy,” he said quietly. “And your mom, and Will...people who are close and actually care about you. You have people who will choose you first before others, and, just forget it, like I said, it’s stupid.” He mumbled most of the last bit under his breath. “Just forget I said anything, it’s embarrassing and I shouldn’t have said anything.”

The other bowed his head and ran his tongue over his lips. How the hell was he supposed to respond to that, and did it even have a right response? As he sat there, he debated whether it was a bad idea to send Nancy home after all; she was far better at this stuff than he was.

“Uhh, Ste-”

“No, no, it’s fine, there’s no need to say anything. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t.”

Jonathan released a relieved sigh. He still felt as though he should say something, but maybe this was one of those moments were just getting it out was the best option. “Suppose I can do that. Anything else you want to, uh, get out there? I’m all ears.”

Steve quickly shook his head. “No, no, trust me, I think that is more than enough. That was more than enough, I believe.” His cheeks were tinged slightly, but if anyone asked, they were both willing to blame that on the fever.

“So, you good then? And by that I mean, well, everything else?”

Steve’s mouth thinned and he nodded firmly. “Yup, I think so. Probably going to need some therapy, but other than that, I think I’ll be fine.” 

For that short moment, Jonathan though, maybe, just maybe, they really would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have another chaptered fic for Steve and a one shot ready though~ The chapter one is full on Russian torture, and the one-shot a nice and fluffy sickfic, so hope ya'll are looking forward to that. And, as always, hope you all enjoyed this one. :D

**Author's Note:**

> Anyway, thank ya for reading and hope you enjoy it so far~ All chapters are complete, so no worries there, they will be posted as editing is completed.


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